Friend-zoned
by BlueAngel7810
Summary: Shiemi is hiding something from Rin but it came out as a real shock to him when he learnt the truth. That's it Rin, You've officially been friend-zoned... While everyone is stunned by his behavior and surprisingly high grades, Shiemi knows something is wrong. But can she give him what he truly needs to mend his heart? RinxShiemi or Rinshi
1. Chapter 1

**A.N/:**_ Hey! Here's my first fic about Blue Exorcist. I really love the manga/anime and just had to write something about it. This'll be a multi-chapter story so stay tuned and for now enjoy!_

**Disclamer:**_ I don't own Blue Exorcist or it's characters (though I wish I did own a little Rin...)_

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_**Friend-zoned**_

**Chapter 1**

The athlete reached for the last of his strength as his mad rush was almost coming to an end. The finish line was mere meters away, just a little more and…

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear the da…my alarm clock." Rin lowered his head as he rushed through the door of the classroom where Shura inspected him with tired and bored eyes from her spot seated on the teacher's desk. She was wearing her usual attire only when you looked closer at her face could you see the dark circles under her eyes, probably because of a night spent glued to the TV in the company of her trusted alcohol cans.

"Just hurry up and sit down slowpoke." She sighed then turned back to the board where complicated symbols were drawn. "Right so…Magic circles, was it?"

Rin slumped onto his chair striving to catch his breath since he had run all the way from his dorm, leaving a starving Kuro behind. _'Damn, I'll have to cook something extra good tonight or he'll get mad…' _Rin thought, stifling a yawn.

"Good morning sleepy head." Shiemi whispered beside him.

"Mornin', what did I miss?" He mumbled under his breath so as not to get caught by their teacher. Shura was never really alert in the morning but you couldn't be fooled by her yawns and sleepy eyes, her punishments were still deadly.

"Not much, Izumo and Suguro argued again."Shiemi smiled. Neither seemed to have heard her, each seated at one opposite end of the classroom and careful not to meet each other's eyes.

"The usual then."He smirked slightly, ruffling his messy raven bangs to try and somehow get them out of his eyes. "What was it this time? His hair?"

The blonde giggled quietly. "No, just something about mangas."

"Mangas!?" Rin exclaimed excitedly while still maintaining his voice to a –loud- whisper. "What kind?"

"Hey shush you two!" Shura glared at the two teenagers on the second row. The boy sighed, disappointed not to get to know more about his friends readings (_'Maybe they read the same series as me!'_) and Shiemi apologized quietly.

When she turned back to the board Shiemi gave Rin a small smile. "Let's talk later, ok?"

Rin grumbled and nodded. He was never one to really pay attention in class so perhaps he would take a quick nap even though it was Shura's lesson…

He turned back to glance at his friend beside him. Today she wore a light pink kimono with a flowery pattern as always and a green colored cotton jacket over it. He thought it looked nice on her, especially since it was the same green as her emerald eyes. She also had a little flower pin with green beads dangling from it in her hair. He went to look back at her face and noticed she didn't seem to be paying any attention to the lesson, something unlikely for her.

He poked her shoulder and she turned to face him. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head briskly and blushed slightly. Rin rested his head on his hand propped by his elbow and gave her a look that meant '_Then what?'_

"It's nothing." She said smiling bashfully then turning to face away from him.

Rin didn't fail to notice the blush on her face and was even more confused by her behavior. At first he thought he would let her be but now he felt he had to know what was wrong with her, that's what friends are for, right?

He leaned on his desk to see Shiemi smiling at someone on the other side of the room. He leaned a bit more so that he was almost flat on his desk and then he saw _it_.

Renzo Shima, the pink haired bug-fearing coward, also known as True Cross Academy's playboy was giving Shiemi **the** seductive look as she gave him a sweet smile of her own and blushed like a shojo manga heroine.

Rin's eyes widened as he quickly leaned back in his chair. Too quickly. With a deafening scream, Rin fell to the side and landed headfirst onto the floor.

"OUCH!" He cried out attempting to ease the pain by rubbing his forehead.

"What the heck are you doing Rin!?" Shura exclaimed pivoting on the desk as the others turned to see what was happening.

"Ugh…Nothin'…OUCH!" He shouted again as he received a chalk right between his eyes. "SHURA WHAT THE HELL?"

"YOU pay attention in MY class, is that clear?" The fiery haired woman ordered threateningly.

"Yeah, yeah…Ok." Rin sat back down still rubbing his head.

"Are you ok?" Shiemi inquired worriedly.

"Don't worry, stupidity can't kill." Izumo hissed from her seat on the left.

Rin glared at her and sighed "I'm fine…" _'But why were you looking at Renzo like that?' _He couldn't ask her that even though it was honestly bothering him.

"I'm glad." She smiled genuinely then turned back to her text book and after a while, to Renzo.

Rin gritted his teeth. _'Something's up and she's not telling me…I want to know!'_

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The sun shone high in the sky above True Cross Academy. To most people, it was what you'd call a bright, average summer day. To Rin it was like being stuck in a micro-wave, especially since he had to run back to school at full speed in the beating sun and its heat. He had just run to his dorm to give Kuro some kind of meal before he had to go back to class. The poor Cait Sith had been so mad he had jumped onto his master unexpectedly, giving him a big gash on his left cheek. Demon powers or not, this would take at least until tomorrow to disappear, and with the time it took Rin to put a decent Band-Aid on it, he was almost late for his next class.

He reached the fountain in the center of the school where Shiemi and him used to have lunch together. Keyword here being _used to._ After she managed to have Izumo tolerate her presence, Shiemi started hanging out with her and Paku a lot more than with him. He had to admit he was a bit disappointed with it…Ok, maybe more than _a bit_ but it was her right to make friends with others, just like he had done with the Kyoto trio, Ryuji, Konekomaru and Renzo.

Rin kept running madly through the streets around the Academy until he finally saw the main building. He could already imagine Yukio's lecture if he was late in class _**again**__: 'What were you thinking? Going back all the way to our dorm during lunch break, seriously!?'_ He grimaced at the thought and rushed to the entrance not noticing the girl standing there uncomfortably before he bumped into her and landed flat his back on the ground.

"OUCH! Dammit, sorry…" Rin closed his eyes tightly waiting for the pain to subside. Wasn't it the hundredth time he fell that day? It wouldn't be long until Ryuji would start calling him a klutz. Not that Rin would let him.

"Ow…"

The half-demon looked up as he recognized the voice. In front of him a petite kimono clad blonde rubbed her forehead with her pale hands.

"Shiemi? What are you doing here!?" Rin finally got up and offered her his hand.

"Renzo asked me to come here" She explained as the raven haired boy pulled her up.

"Renzo?" He asked, intrigued that she called him by his first name.

She nodded "He wanted to talk to me about…" She stopped herself mid-sentence and blushed in embarrassment.

"About what?" Rin repositioned the Komaken on his shoulder as its strap got tangled with his bag's in the fall.

"Nothing!" She briskly turned around to hide her red cheeks and Rin was even more confused than before.

"He didn't stand you up, did he?" His eyes widened at the realization_. 'The bastard…' _Renzo Shima was a good friend to Rin, he often joked around with him and shared his interest in girls but if he did anything to hurt Shiemi…

"No, no! He was there a minute ago. You showed up right after he left." She clarified waving her hands in front of her.

"What's wrong then? Why don't you tell me anything!?" Rin exclaimed, getting annoyed with this situation.

"It's…"

The bell ringing the start of class interrupted her once again.

"Shiiiiiit !" Rin cursed loudly and started running towards the building's entrance. He turned back to the stunned Shiemi right before he passed the door. "And don't think this conversation's over!"

And with that he disappeared through the big wooden doors leaving the blonde flustered and confused with what to do next. She let out a tired sigh.

"How would he react…?"

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**A.N/:**_ As usual, reviews are appreciated, even if you didn't enjoy the story all that much I don't mind. Just tell me what you thought!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N/:**_ Thanks to all those who reviewed/favorited/follows this story! Since I'm new on this site , I'm glad you appreciate my work! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.^^__**  
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_**Chapter 2**_

The next day Rin walked lazily in the singular corridors of Cram school and to the next –boring- pharmacology lesson. The teen sighed, Yukio still hadn't heard about the scandal he had made when getting to class after his encounter with Shiemi…Hopefully…The teacher had yelled so much and so long at him, Rin's classmates had been staring accusingly or with pure contempt at him. He hated that kind of situation. Back before he entered True Cross Academy he would have found a smart come-back to yell at the teacher's face and storm out of the room slamming the door. If he did that now he would probably get Yukio or even "principal" Mephisto on his case for weeks. Better not attract attention. He growled at the thought of Mephisto's idea of a lecture.

"Hey klutz, what's up?"

"Don't you dare call me that Ryuji!" Rin snarled, turning around to face the tall teen and Konekomaru.

"But you _are_ a klutz. I'd be surprised if you didn't trip by the time we reach the classroom." He smirked, enjoying the annoyed look on the young demon's face.

Rin's tail straitened up and he frowned in anger as Ryuji and Koneko walked by him. "I'm more agile than you, rooster."

"What did you call me!?"

"Calm down Bon." Konekomaru tried to quiet his friend down but failed to suppress his amused grin.

"Ha! I hit a nerve!" Rin's laughter echoed through the corridors as he clutched his stomach.

"Shut it!"

"Hey isn't that Shima and Moriyama?"Konekomaru interrupted their quarrel and pointed to the end of the corridor where two teens were talking in front of their classroom's door.

Rin calmed down at the mention of Shiemi's last name. Surely enough the blonde tamer stood there with her little greenman summon on her shoulder. In front of her was none other than Renzo Shima.

"So that's where he was, we didn't see him all morning." Konekomaru mused aloud, readjusting his glasses.

Ryuji just had the time to grumble before Rin forcefully pulled them behind a pillar against the wall in the hallway to avoid being seen.

"What the…!?"

"Shut up!" Rin interrupted hitting his friend and rival on the head. "I want to hear!"

"But Okumura-kun, we're too far to hear anything…" Konekomaru wisely added in a small voice.

A silence passed and true enough, Rin couldn't hear a thing even with his heightened demon senses. He let out a frustrated sigh._ 'Shoot, what's going on with these two?' _he thought.

Ryuji let out a quiet chuckle as an idea popped in his mind."Hey look klutz! They're going to ki…"

"WHAT!? What's going on?" Rin jumped out of his hiding spot to examine the situation but his tail got in the way. As his right foot was about to touch the ground he stepped on his tail, let out a heart wrenching scream and fell face first on the paved floor.

"Rin?" Shiemi turned around to see her friend whimpering on the floor and holding his oversensitive demon tail. "Are you okay?"

"…More or less" He let out breathily despite the excruciating pain. It hurt as bad as if he had just been kicked hard in the nuts, maybe even more.

"See, told ya." Ryuji smirked and walked past him to the classroom.

Rin let out a growl and Konekomaru gave him an apologetic look, making sure he could get up before following his best friend to the exorcism classroom.

Rin picked up his bag and his sword before dusting himself off. He had just enough time to notice Shima getting awfully close to Shiemi -much too close to his liking- by holding onto her shoulder as he whispered something into her ear then followed his two mates into the classroom.

Rin's tail shot up again as his temper rose only then was he reminded of its poor state when pain surged through his nerves again and he let out a small whimper.

Shiemi turned around as soon as the pink haired boy disappeared through the door. "You're sure you're okay?" Worry seeped through her voice.

Rin cursed under his breath since the pain took so long to go away. He nodded nonetheless "Yeah, I'm fine."

When he looked back up he noticed she had gotten closer to him. "Can I do anything?" She gestured to Nii, her tiny greenman summon perched on her shoulder. Clearly she didn't buy his lie since she offered to cure him with her herbs and plants.

"Nah, it's okay! Don't worry." He smiled to reassure her. Shiemi searched his intense blue eyes through his bangs to try and see if he was telling the truth.

"Is your tail that sensitive?" She asked shyly, playing a bit with her fingers as she took a small step closer towards him.

Rin's cheeks took a rosy tint and he suddenly found great interest in observing the high ceiling. "Hum…Yeah, they said something… I dunno like, the tail's a demon's weakness…" He mumbled, laying the tip of it in his palm.

"Is that so…" Her hand reaching out to touch the tail went unnoticed by Rin and it only occurred to him that she was stroking the dark hairs on it when he felt shivers running up his spine. He looked back down to see her small hand above his, only the hairy tip of his tail separating their skins.

"Shi…Shiemi…?" He stuttered, blushing tomato red.

She seemed to get out of her trance as she jumped slightly and looked up at his confused cobalt eyes, taking her hand off his tail. "I…I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…!"

"It's okay…"

"I just wanted to touch it…" She lowered her head bashfully and Rin blushed even more.

"…Don't worry about it." He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes, careful not to meet her gaze as she looked up again.

She nodded and giggled nervously. An awkward silence passed between them before Rin remembered what got him in this situation in the first place.

"By the way, what did Shima want?"He asked as casually as he could since he could still feel her touch on his tail.

Shiemi gasped then blushed crimson red as silence engulfed them for a short while again. Rin pushed his luck a bit farther.

"What…?"

"You're not already in class?"

The two teens turned to the person who had interrupted them and were surprised to find Yukio walking down the corridor in his usual brisk gait.

"We were about to…" Shiemi started.

"Don't bother." Yukio cut in replacing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Today the Exwires are required for a mission."

Rin's face lit up. "Awesome! Had been a while since we last had a good training!"

Shiemi giggled lightly but Yukio remained serious and composed as always. It could be hard to tell Rin and him were twins sometimes. "Get inside, I'll give you a briefing."

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**A.N/:**_ Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please leave a review, I'd be overjoyed. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N/:**_ Hey! Here is the third chapter, there's some action in that one (because it's always better with a bit monster slaying stuff ;-)) but no worries, the romance is still there!__**  
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_I want to thank everyone who reads/favorited/follows/reviewed this story again, and especially ComelyEpicure who wrote that awesome review. I was so happy, you can't imagine!^^_

_Anyway, on with the story! And as always, I hope you enjoy._

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**Chapter 3**

About an hour later the whole exorcism class was walking in the forest south of the Academy in the beating sun of the afternoon much to their dismay. Rin's enthusiasm was long gone. Yukio had explained earlier in class that they would be taking care of some leapers that seemed to get too numerous in the woods. They were now headed towards the pond were most of these demons were located.

"Why do we have to take care of these stupid frogs? Isn't there anything cooler to beat up?" Rin grumbled monotonously.

"It's your problem if you think 2 feet tall demon possessed frogs are uncool." Yukio replied as professional as ever.

"We always get the most boring missions…" Rin sighed, flicking his tail back and forth lazily.

Yukio didn't pay attention to his comment as he announced "We're there."

The teens regrouped around Yukio to have a better look at the situation. In front of them was a large pond of dirty, miry water where no more than two leapers lied lazily, probably napping.

"Professor, there are only two leapers here…" Konekomaru timidly raised his hand.

"It's because the others are in there." Yukio pointed to a cave in the distance. It was too dark in the shade of the large trees surrounding it to see anything past its entrance.

"How many are there?" Izumo raised her hand as well.

"About twenty."

"That many!" Renzo whisper-shouted.

"Now things get interesting…" Rin smirked gripping his Kurikara sheathed on his back.

"I'll let you proceed and won't intervene unless you are in danger. Let's get started!" Yukio signaled the start of the mission and then walked to lean against a nearby tree to observe his students.

"Let's do this!" Rin exclaimed excited again.

"We should prepare a plan first." Ryuji gripped his rival's shoulder as he was about to draw out his sword. "We wouldn't want you to burn the forest down along with us and the leapers."

"I can control my flames now!" Rin retorted.

"Ryuji's right, we can't head into a cave full of demons unprepared." Konekomaru interrupted.

"So what do you wanna do? Have a sutra up your sleeve or somethin'?"Rin inquired crossing his arms.

"We should take care of these two first," He pointed to the leapers napping in the pound. "Then we'll think of something for the others inside the cave."

"But Koneko!" Renzo cut in shakily, his face already paling at the thought. "We can't go in the pond! What if there are some…Bugs in the water?" He said it as if even saying the word scared the heck out of him.

"There's already a fly on your shoulder idiot." Izumo smirked meanly.

"WHAT! WHERE IS IT!?" The pink haired boy freaked out and took out his anti-insect spray. Izumo started laughing quietly.

"There is some truth in what Renzo said, we can't go into the water it would be too dangerous." Konekomaru thought aloud, stroking an imaginary beard. "We have to lure them to us so we can take them down on firm ground."

"I think I may have something for that." Shiemi suddenly jumped up. "There is that plant that frogs love, we could attract them with it."

"That could work but who would carry them close enough to the leapers?" Koneko asked.

"Uke! Mike!" Izumo summoned her twin white demon foxes and they appeared with a swish of wind. "They'll carry the plants." She told her comrades placidly.

"_What? You want to use us as a vulgar BAIT woman!?"_ One of the foxes complained.

"_How dare…"_ The other started.

"Shut up!"Izumo shouted and the hairs on two demon's skin shot up in surprise and fear. They didn't complain anymore after that.

"Good. Renzo, Bon," Konekomaru turned to Ryuji on his right. "You know the fatal verse for leapers?"

"Sure, let's do this." The tall teen nodded.

"And what do I do in all that!?" Rin interrupted offended that he was left out.

"You'll be there for back up, if anything goes wrong you slay the leapers yourself." Konekomaru explained as he got in line beside Ryuji and Renzo to psalmody their sutra.

"Right. That I can do!" Rin winked enthusiastic once again. It's true his demon powers and especially his satanic blue flames gave him a strong advantage against any kind of enemy. Since he easily overpowered his fellow classmates he often had to stay on the sidelines and be there for back up just in case. It kind of annoyed him to never get to fight but he knew leapers weren't up to his league.

Shiemi summoned her little greenman and asked for the correct plant. She then gave it to Izumo so that her foxes would carry it to the leapers and back to the shore. Everything was going according to plan as the giant demon frogs leaped out of the water and with a great jump, landed on the ground in front of the three Arias psalmodying their sutra.

"…The everlasting Bouddha pities you!" The three finished in perfect synchronization and the two leapers fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Woohoo! We did it guys!" Renzo cheered.

"I almost broke a sweat." Joked Rin behind them.

They all laughed at that, only Shiemi who stared in the distance stood still.

"Err guys…We have a problem!" She shouted to get their attention.

"What…Wow!" Rin exclaimed.

Numerous leapers appeared at the entrance of the cave. They noticed the young Exwires as soon as they got out of the shadow and started leaping their way.

"I'll handle it!"Rin unsheathed Kurikara and blue demonic flames appeared all over his body. The tip of his tail took fire while his already pointy ears as well as his fangs grew longer. His eyes shone an eerie blue and his irises got bloody red.

He jumped up into the air and dived back down at one of the numerous demons. He crashed his sword into the giant frog's body and it soon took fire. The closest leapers as well as the one Rin had attacked were consumed in a wave of blue flames. The half demon jumped off the burnt leaper's back and dodged another's attack before slashing it in its open mouth. He was glad the blade was engulfed in blue flames otherwise he would have had to wash the leaper's saliva away…

"…Yura Yura To Furue! Momochi Yorozu! Surrender your soul to oblivion!"

Izumo's twin foxes suddenly appeared behind Rin and encircled a leaper that was about to attack him in a wave of white smoke. It gave Rin enough time to turn and burn the demon to death.

"Thanks!" He flashed her a grin. She simply lifted her chin proudly in response before reciting other formulas.

Two other leapers later Rin saw that Renzo, Ryuji and Konekomaru were still reciting sutras with Shiemi protecting them with a shield of tangled wood and leaves. He smirked seeing he wasn't needed there and continued battling the overflowing mass of demons.

He dodged one leaper that was about to bite him and counterattacked the unbalanced monster but couldn't evade the next blow coming from his left and was sent flying into the air several meters away. Another leaper was about to jump and squash him under his weight but Rin managed to roll on the side just in time and used his position to cut the demon's exposed abdomen in a backhand blow.

He got up to his feet in a swift movement and just had time to notice a rather large leaper charging at him. He quickly jumped and landed onto its back. It took him a few seconds to find his balance again as he gripped tightly onto the giant frog's squishy neck like in a rodeo. The beast tried to get him of its back but Rin held on and they ran and jumped through the mass of feral leapers and even managed to take some of them down from his spot on his new trusted steed. At some point he held his sword above his head and quickly brought it down to the leaper's spine before somersaulting off it and landing gracefully on the ground.

"See rooster, told ya I was more agile than you!" Rin boasted proudly even though Ryuji probably didn't pay any attention to his comment since he was still in full concentration reciting his sutra.

There weren't any more leapers around Rin so he turned to see how the three Arias and Shiemi were doing and was shocked to see they were surrounded with the other half of the leapers he and Izumo hadn't manage to take down…Yet.

Rin lunged at full speed in their direction as Izumo directed her attention to them too and sent her inari foxes to fight. With a monumental battle cry, Rin sliced one leaper's back so that its whole body burst into flames. Only that leaper had been way to close to Shiemi's wooden barrier and her shield took fire. Rin cursed under his breath as the others' eyes widened in mortification. He concentrated hard. His flames started shining more brightly, a circle of blue flames surrounded his comrades to protect them from the leapers' attacks. He grinned proudly at his work and turned to the many leapers he still had to take care of.

He saw one getting much too close to Izumo and quickly jumped into the air to take it down. The pigtail girl seemed surprised but didn't flinch. He then went back to the others and killed another two before he heard someone screaming. A leaper had bounced inside the circle of flames and was now advancing threateningly towards the other Exwires. Renzo freaked out and stopped reciting the sutra with Koneko and Ryuji to try to fight the demon off instead with his bonze stick. The leaper didn't seem interested in the stick and focused its attention on Shiemi. She didn't have time to ask her summon for any means of protection before the leaper dived her way.

Rin ran at an unnatural speed through his wall of flames and interposed himself between the leaper and Shiemi. He managed to counter its attack with a slice of Kurikara and the leaper fell a few feet away. Rin just had to jump and give it the finishing blow.

Just as he did so the two remaining Arias finished their sutra and all the leapers around them fell to the ground, dead. The Exwires all sighed in relief.

"Dammit Shima! What were you thinking!?"Ryuji roared, tiny sweat drops dripping from his forehead.

"I couldn't let it jump at us!" The pink haired boy defended himself.

"Calm down Bon…" Konekomaru tried to ease tension between his friends.

Rin smiled at his mates as they argued and looked over at Izumo who was dusting herself off. _'They're all ok. That was harder than I thought…'_ He was glad he was able to control his flames properly now. It helped them a lot during missions and they trusted him. He couldn't be happier about that.

A tug on his sleeve brought him out of his thoughts and he turned to face Shiemi. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it was a piece of cake!" He bragged. He took a minute to inspect her for any trace of injury but besides a little dirt on her uniform she was unscathed.

"Thanks for earlier." She smiled sweetly up at him and he felt his cheeks go red.

"It was nothing really…" He scratched the back of his head bashfully.

"You're sure you're okay though? You took a rough blow earlier…" She said touching his shoulder.

Rin jumped just like earlier in the hallway when she touched his tail. Back then he blamed it on his oversensitive demon tail but if the slightest touch from her made him jump like that…

"Rin…?"

He focused his eyes back to hers and that was his final mistake. For a minute they were all alone. Shiemi stared deeply into his eyes, as if reading his soul and the worst was that…He let her do it… She gripped on his shoulder a bit tighter but he didn't notice nor mind as he was subconsciously inching slowly closer to her. She was frozen but didn't seem scared, he too could see it in her eyes. She let her hand linger on his shoulder for one more second before it fell to her side. Rin blinked in surprise as she broke contact but didn't have time to do anything about it as…

"Off you go!"

Rin felt something –or rather someone- push him strongly on his side. He lost his balance and the next thing he knew, he was soaking wet and half covered in mud.

"WHAT THE HELL! RENZO!" The raven-haired teen shouted as he struggled to get up with all the dirt around him.

Everyone besides Shiemi and Rin was laughing, even Yukio who had joined them after the last of the leapers had been exterminated. Rin finally managed to get out of the pond and tried brushing some mud off with his hands, it was far from successful.

"Why the hell did you do that!?" Rin glared dangerously at Renzo but he didn't flinch.

"That was for staring too long at my adorable girlfriend."

The others were still laughing but to Rin it felt like time just stopped. He thought he had misunderstood or something but sure enough the arm Renzo draped around the blushing Shiemi's waist indicated he had heard it right.

"I…I'm sorry I didn't tell you Rin, I wanted to but my shyness got in the way…" Shiemi apologized, fidgeting and blushing slightly.

Rin was thunderstruck. The others stopped laughing and looked over at the couple casually. _'They knew? Since when are they…?'_

"You okay man?" Renzo asked.

Rin stared back at him and Shiemi with wide eyes but quickly recovered and put on his mask. "Yeah, congrats."

His tone sounded off to Shiemi, she knew him well enough. But before she could say a word Rin stormed past them and to his brother.

"So, we're going back?"

"The mission is complete so yes, we're headed back to the academy."

"Let's go." Rin walked into the woods through the path they had taken earlier.

The others stared after him in silence but soon followed. After a while Renzo broke the silence as he whispered:

"What's got into him?"

"You're sure it was the right moment to tell him?" Ryuji sighed.

"Is it really that much of a shock!?" Renzo exclaimed way too loud. Ryuji had to nudge him in the ribs to which the pink haired boy let out a small yelp. Thankfully, Rin either hadn't heard or didn't care as he was still walking ahead of them with Yukio close behind.

"I don't understand…" Shiemi whispered beside Renzo as she gave his hand a small squeeze. "…Is he mad?"

Izumo sighed from behind them and the others turned to her in surprise. "What? Isn't it obvious?" The others remained silent so she sighed again. "You guys are idiots." And with that she jogged to catch up with the Okumura brothers and followed them in queue, leaving the others behind.

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**A.N/:**_Thanks for reading this chapter!__As usual, reviews are appreciated and welcome (even if you didn't like it)._

_Next chapter will include Kuro so pet pals, stay tuned!_


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N/:** _ Thanks so much to everyone! I love all your reviews (and I'll think about the proposal^^)!_

_Nothing much happens in this chapter but I think it's still funny, so enjoy!_

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**Chapter 4**

"_Rin! I'm hungry, I want sukiyaki!"_ Kuro jumped onto his master as Rin lied flat on his back on his unmade bed.

Rin didn't answer. He had an arm over his face and the other on his stomach. He sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Ask Yukio…" He let out.

"_But Yukio doesn't cook sukiyaki!" _the demon cat complained poking Rin's tummy with his tiny paws to try and get a reaction out of him. He only sighed in response so the Cait Sith got angry and started jumping up and down on his master's stomach chanting _'Sukiyaki! Sukiyaki! Sukiyaki!'_ like a little kid.

"Stop that Kuro!"Rin raised his voice. Kuro was startled at that but calmed down after a while. Rin remained quiet though, which was very unusual. Rin played with Kuro whenever he could and was cheerful most of the time so he didn't understand what made him so silent.

"_Rin, what's wrong?" _Kuro inquired, lifting his head up from his spot lying on Rin's belly.

"It's nothing Kuro…"

"_You're sure?"_ The teen sighed again in reply. Kuro gave up and rested his head on his front paws as he wrapped his twin tails around his small warm body.

Honestly, Rin didn't really know what was wrong. Back at the pond he had felt hurt and out of place for some reason but right now he was utterly and incomprehensibly confused.

Shiemi has a boyfriend. And that boyfriend is his _friend_ Renzo Shima. Was that some kind of betrayal? _'No…It's just…'_ The truth was that it annoyed him immensely to imagine Shiemi with Shima, or anyone else for that matter. Just to think of her in his arms angered him so much! He wanted to growl but he feared he would wake Kuro up. But why in the first place? Why did he feel so angry? Never had he felt that way before… Another thought occurred to him: _'Does Renzo really like her?'_ He tensed. The guy was known to be a playboy so maybe he didn't really have feelings for Shiemi? But that would hurt her for sure if she loved him. _'Is she really in love with him?'_ A voice at the back of his mind told him _'Well obviously, since she's dating him.'_ But this one thought didn't anger him…Actually, it hurt. He felt like something was squashing his heart or like a clawed hand was clenching it as hard as it could until it bled. Rin was amazed at the metaphors he could find to describe it, because it felt just like the truth…

He brought the hand that used to rest on his stomach near Kuro to touch his heart. He felt it beating steadily: _'Thump thump. Thump thump.'_ No one could tell how bad it hurt even if they tried to listen to it. He clenched his fist and wrinkled his shirt. No matter how hard he tried all his thoughts drifted back to Shiemi and his heart ached more and more, it was becoming hard to bear.

He sat up abruptly and let out a frustrated shout, not minding the poor Kuro who was jerked awake and jumped off the bed.

"RAAAH! I don't understand!"

"Understand what?"

Rin turned to his brother who had just entered the room. Kuro hid behind his legs, fearing another outburst and Yukio simply stood there in his usual attire. He took off his heavy leather exorcist coat and left it on the hangers as he made his way to a nearby chair and sat down opposite Rin. The older twin sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

"It's nothing…"

"If it's about a lesson…"

"Nah, nothin' to do with it." Rin didn't let him finish.

Yukio remained quiet for a while but broke the silence eventually. "About that, you know your grades aren't getting any better, right?" Rin just grumbled in response. "You should really start working a bit or you'll get in trouble."

'_Geez, he really chose his moment…'_ Rin thought "I don't wanna talk about it right now…"

"Then when? When do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know! Just not now!" Rin struggled to keep his temper but it was a lost battle.

"Look, True Cross Academy is one of the greatest schools in the whole country, if you don't get good enough grades they'll kick you out!" He still got no reaction from his brother so he decided he would put it plainly. "If you don't improve your results soon you'll get kicked out of exorcism class as well! Do you understand!?"

Rin moved ever so slightly. That was the only reaction he thought he would get but just as he was about to go downstairs and give Kuro some croquettes…

"…I'll think about it."

Yukio turned around, amazed that he actually got a reaction out of him. It must mean something though, Rin was never that easy to convince. He still lied on his bed with an arm over his eyes. When he was like that it was usually because he was burnt out, but he couldn't be that tired even though he had given quite a performance against the leapers earlier. Demons are more resistant than that and knowing his brother, he couldn't be drained after such a 'small' fight. _'Something's off…' _he thought.

"Is there something wrong Nii-san?"

'_And now he asks'_ Rin thought sighing again.

"Tell me, maybe I can help." Yukio insisted, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

'_As if…I don't even understand it myself…But Yukio's always been the smartest of us two.'_ Rin thought pulling his arm off his face. He looked to the side and saw Kuro staring at him with his huge green eyes by Yukio's foot._ 'He wants to know too… Or maybe he just wants sukiyaki really bad...'_

"How long have Shiemi and Shima been dating?" He asked, sounding as bored as he could although he was boiling inside.

"Oh, it's really recent. I think Shiemi accepted just this afternoon." Yukio explained.

'_So that was what they were talking about!'_ Rin sat up on his bed as he thought back to earlier that day when he had spotted them in the corridor. "And they told you but not me!?" he exclaimed, honestly shocked.

"Actually no," Yukio chuckled slightly. "I heard of it when Shima couldn't help boasting about it during my briefing before the mission. I think Shiemi wanted to tell you personally since you're…" He stopped himself short, afraid to hurt his brother's feelings.

"I'm what?" Rin inquired seriously.

Yukio sighed, fatal mistake. "…Her best friend."

Rin remained motionless. For some reason these words didn't make him happy or proud…He couldn't figure out why, but he felt the imaginary claw clench his heart tighter again.

"…Did it bother you…?" Rin asked lowering his head.

"What?"

"When you heard they got together, did it bother you?" Rin asked in a low voice.

"Why would I be bothered?" Yukio didn't get the problem.

'_Dude, he's slow…'_ "Since you've been friends with her for so long, you must be close to her. So does it bother you that she has a boyfriend now?"

Yukio just stared at his brother for a minute, slowly understanding the situation and getting an idea of what Rin's problem might be. "Shiemi's a good friend to me, I'm happy she found someone she thinks can make her happy, but are you?"

Rin didn't say anything so he thought his earlier guess was right. _'Nii-san, you're so predictable' _Yukio sighed "You're jealous Rin."

"What!?" The older twin jumped up from his bed in shock. "What the hell Yukio!? Why would I be jealous?"

Yukio smirked but remained silent, staring intently into his brother's identical but confused blue eyes. _'He's going to realize it in 3…2…1…'_

"Wait, you don't think…? OH, HELL NO!"

Yukio let out a quiet chuckle as Rin started scratching his head uncomfortably before turning his wary eyes back to his brother.

"You can't be serious…"He sighed in defeat, sitting back down on the bed and clenching his fist on his chest once again. "Since when have I been in love with Shiemi?"

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**A.N/:** _Hope you enjoyed! If so, then please leave a little review, it would be just great!_

_I'll be sure to put the next chapter tomorrow, don't worry._

_I would also like to thank those of you whom I haven't heard of (yet). Please, if you like this story then keep reading! _


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N/:** _I'm so sorry for the wait! I said I would put this chapter yesterday but it ended up being a very busy day...Anyway, don't wait any longer, the chapter's right below!_

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_**Chapter 5**_

Shiemi felt rather anxious that afternoon before going to exorcism class. She had to talk to Rin about his attitude the day before after the mission. She wasn't sure if he was just surprised, shocked or mad at her. If it was the latter, she wanted to know why. And that was precisely why she had come a bit late on purpose. But there was still no sign of Rin as she kept waiting in front of their usual classroom. _'Renzo said he wasn't in the classroom earlier…I must keep waiting.'_ She thought.

She nervously arranged her fringe and played with the sleeves of her kimono, it was a rather hot day at the end of the summer so she rolled up her sleeves.

What she didn't know was that a half demon battled with his thoughts, hiding behind a pillar against the wall about two meters away from where she stood. _'What is she doing? Is she waiting for someone? For me? No, more probably for Shima but…'_ Rin was careful not to let his tail get out of the shade the pillar provided but kept playing with his fingers and ruffling his messy bangs nonetheless. _'What the hell am I doing? Just go past her without looking at her. No I can't do that…Seriously, what's she doing here? I don't wanna talk to her right now, I'm still too confused…But what if the teacher comes up? I think we have Tsubaki today, damn… What will Shiemi think if she finds out I was there all along? Make up an excuse, I have to find something just in case! Dammit, why am I sweating like that? Focus Rin, an excuse…An excuse…'_

"Rin?"

Rin jumped at least a foot above the ground in surprise. The poor teen had been so lost in thoughts he hadn't noticed Shiemi had started inspecting the corridors just in case. She was now standing awfully close to him, with her hand on the pillar almost cornering him. He knew she hadn't done it on purpose but he couldn't shake off that thought off bringing her closer. _'Dammit, take a grip on yourself!' _

"What are you doing behind the pillar?" She asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.

There it was, the dreaded question. And he didn't have time to think of any believable excuse. "Err…I was…" he began hesitantly.

Rin looked down at her and found her eyes. It wasn't long before he got lost in them once more. How come was it only now that he noticed how beautiful her emerald gaze was? Her face too. When he first met her he thought she looked like a little kid but now he saw her in a different light. She wasn't only a beautiful little doll even though right now her gorgeous platinum blonde hair and sweet pale skin made her look like one. How he wished he could reach out his hand and touch her.

Shiemi had proved him she wasn't made of glass numerous times. She just never gave up, strong willed and stubborn Shiemi. She was the one who gave him strength. She always managed to soothe his troubled mind and heart with warm smiles and encouragements.

And it was only now that he realized how much he cared about her… He had the urge to show her right now, to take her in his arms and hold her tightly. Then whisper the words into her ear and bring her even closer…

'_You're her best friend.'_ He remembered Yukio's words from yesterday and wanted to laugh at his stupidity. In a second and a half he could have ruined any sort of friendship he had with her just because of an impulse.

"Rin? Earth to Rin, are you okay?" She waved her small hand in front of his face to bring him back to reality.

'_I'm her friend, that's as much as I'll get so…I'll try to cope with it.'_ He couldn't help the small sad smile on his face. "What's up?"

Shiemi blushed a bit and played with her fingers again before finally asking "Are you mad at me?"

"What? Why?" He inquired surprised.

"You kinda ran off yesterday so I didn't know how you took the news about Renzo and I."

'_Renzo and I'_ That sounded so wrong to him, he gritted his teeth_ 'Calm down Rin…' _He sighed. "I'm sorry I reacted like that, I was just really…" _'thunderstruck, confused, angry, depressed, heartbroken' _The adjectives describing his state of mind passed by in his head_. _"…Surprised."

"Really? I'm glad then." She smiled sweetly again and he couldn't help blushing since she was still so close.

"We'll talk later, ok? Otherwise we're gonna be late for class, I can already hear talking on the phone." She pointed to the shadowy end of the hallway where their teacher's voice could be heard echoing against the large walls.

"Probably something about his 'kitty cat' " Shiemi laughed at Rin's joke and they snuck into the classroom still chuckling, before the teacher could see them.

"Shiemi! I was starting to think you left me out babe." Renzo whined standing up from his desk behind Ryuji and Konekomaru. The later waved at Rin and he gave him a nod to acknowledge his greeting.

"Sorry about that." Shiemi replied timidly as her boyfriend encircled her waist with his arms before leaning down closer to her face.

"The big bad wolf didn't do anything to you, did he?" he said eyeing Rin but even though he said that in a low whisper, the whole class could hear it.

"N…No, we just talked don't worry." She smiled shyly up at him.

He got to the point where their foreheads were almost touching and it became harder for Rin to stay still in his seat on the front row.

"Then you won't mind giving me my good morning kiss~?" He asked seductively.

Shiemi flushed bright red. Rin jumped from his seat. Konekomaru gasped. Ryuji cursed under his breath. Izumo shouted across the room:

"Don't you dare do that as a public display you pervert!"

Everyone in the room minus Renzo was glad Izumo managed to tell him off. Probably because Rin could do **really** bad damage when he went berserk and judging from the dark aura surrounding him just a second ago, that was what would have happened.

"Aw, you're jealous Izumo-chan?" The pink haired teen asked teasingly.

"Pff, in your dreams." Renzo seemed let down by this come-back and Shiemi was left standing in his arms rather confused and flustered before finally made his entrance.

"Good afternoon class! I'm sorry for…" He brought the phone that was still glued to his hand to his ear "Yes my little kitty! Just a second~ Hum hum. As I was about to say, I have an emergency and am forced to cancel today's lesson. See you later alligator!" And with that he disappeared as fast as he had come. His voice could still be heard resonating in the hallway "I'M COMING MY KITTY CAT!~"

"…Alligator?" Izumo breathed out, perplexed.

Everyone was silent in the classroom for a while then Rin and Shiemi burst out laughing and the others gave them a strange look.

"See, told ya!" Rin managed to say between pants as his laughter subsided.

"It's not hard to guess," Shiemi calmed down as well. "He's always talking to his 'kitty cat' on the phone!" She erupted in another fit of giggles.

"So what do we do now?" Konekomaru asked, retrieving his bag from the floor.

"Shiemi?" She turned to her boyfriend at the sound of her name even though she was still trying to catch her breath. "How about we go out on a date?"

"A…A date?" She gasped. Shima nodded.

"You, me, a romantic picnic in the sunlight…How about it?"

Shiemi blushed crimson red and lowered her head a bit. "I don't know, I'd have to ask my mother and she'd probably tell me to keep the supply shop…"

"We're supposed to be in class right now, she won't hear about it unless you tell her." Shima winked at her.

"You think I could?"

"Of course!"

Shiemi cast a look towards Rin as if to see what he thought but quickly averted her gaze and nodded at Renzo who took her hand and dragged her out of the classroom running.

Silence engulfed them again before Izumo stood up and walked to the door as well, mumbling something too low for anyone to hear.

"So…What are you going to do today Okumura-kun?" Konekomaru asked awkwardly to try and lighten up the mood.

Rin was in silent mode again. Shiemi had just left…To go on a date with Shima…

"Damn…" He cursed under his breath

"What's wrong?" Konekomaru inquired, puzzled.

"It's nothing…" Rin sighed, got up and waved at his friends then walked out of the room without another word.

Koneko and Ryuji looked over at each other knowingly.

"He has it bad for her, doesn't he?" Said Koneko, smiling gently.

"Hell yeah." Ryuji smirked.

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**A.N/:** _I know nothing much happened in this chapter either but I swear there will be more Rin/Shiemi fluffy stuff in the next one! I just had to clarify stuff with Shiemi __a bit __in this one. Also, next chapter will have Kuro in it! ;)_

_Thanks again to everyone who reads and supports this story! As always, reviews give me happiness, so feel free to leave one.^^_


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N/:** _Thank you so much for reviewing/following/reading this story! I never expected it to get so much attention!_

_I guess this chapter is a bit more 'light hearted' since Rin was so depressed in the last ones. Beware though, this one includes a hungry Kuro, a very angry/tsundere Rin and pancakes._

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**Chapter 6**

The next day was Sunday, meaning there was no school and Rin was allowed to sleep in the whole morning. So, of course you could tell he was shocked when he was woken up by the sound of the doorbell. He cursed/mumbled something in his still half asleep state and buried himself under the covers, thinking the person at the door would just go away but they didn't. Every few minutes the bell's ear-ripping sound would be heard and at some point Rin just had had enough.

He sat up in his bed grumpily, knowing that he would have to go to the door since Yukio wasn't there at this unholy hour of the morning (_"I have to go to an important meeting for the student's representatives"_ he had said last night.).

"What time is it...?" Rin mumbled sleepily as Kuro jumped off the bed and started babbling about breakfast.

Rin looked over at the alarm clock beside his bed and his eyes grew as wide as saucers.

7:43 a.m.

"HOLY SH**** !"

The bell rang again and that was the last straw. Rin stormed down the stairs of the empty dorm he shared with Yukio not minding in the slightest the small Cait Sith following him and crying out something about food. He practically dived downstairs as the bell sounded again and again and again…and when he finally reached the front door, he literally slammed it open without a care in the world and began shouting:

"WHY FOR F***'S SAKE DOES ANYONE COME AT THIS GODAMN HOUR ON A FREAKING SUNDAY MORNING!? WHAT IN THE UNHOLY NAME OF MEPHISTO…!" He inspected his surroundings and saw no one in front of him which resulted in his temper rising higher if possible. DUDE WHAT THE F***! DAMMIT! SHOW YOUR FACE YOU FILTHY BASTA…!"

Rin stopped mid sentence when his eyes finally landed on the source of his misery. A girl, platinum blonde hair, peachy pale skin, blue and pink kimono, transfixing green eyes… _'Shit!'_

"Good morning to you too…" She sighed rubbing her forehead, probably from the pain the door caused when he violently jerked it open. She lied on the ground before the stone steps of the dorm.

"Damn, Shiemi I'm so sorry!" Rin started freaking out.

"It's okay, you opened the door so fast that I fell… My head hurts."

"Let me see." Rin offered his hand to pull her up. It was the least he could do after his mad rant. She took it but he pulled –not so accidently- a bit too hard and she collided with his toned chest.

She didn't pull away immediately for some obscure reason (maybe the shock?) and let her hand rest on his stomach. Only she expected to feel cotton or a fabric of some sort…Not strong tensed muscles behind fair skin. That's when she realized he was shirtless and pulled away rapidly.

"Ri…Rin!" She exclaimed, blushing crimson red.

The boy stared confused before realizing where her gaze was directed. _'Daaaaaamn!'_

"Err…Just come in, I'll go put something on!" Rin smiled sheepishly.

As soon as he had led her to the cafeteria of the old abandoned dorm he ran up the stairs, put on whatever shirt he could find and brought Kuro downstairs with him to grab some breakfast.

Shiemi was seated at the table closest to the kitchen counter but he noticed a big box on it.

"Err what's that?" He asked still a bit embarrassed by what had happened a few minutes ago.

"It's Yukio's supplies. He said it was important he got them fast so I brought them this morning as soon as I could. Is he here?" She explained with still a little rosy tint on her cheeks.

"Ah, stupid four eyes…" Rin sighed leaning against the counter. "He went to some meeting this mornin', said it could take some time…"

"I see…"

The silence that followed was so heavy, they both wanted the ground to just swallow them so they would disappear. But unexpectedly, they broke the silence at the same time:

"I'm sorry!" They stared into each other's eyes in surprise. "Me first! No me!" They had spoken in perfect synch again. They stayed motionless for a second before bursting out laughing.

"Man…" Rin said when he finally managed to catch his breath. "I'm sorry I started shouting like that, I didn't expect _you_ to be at the door." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "How's your forehead?"

"I'm fine, it's just a bruise. I'm sorry for waking you up so early too." She apologized.

"Don't worry about it." He assured her though he struggled to stifle his yawns.

"_Rin!"_

The boy turned to Kuro who just jumped on the table where Shiemi was seated.

"_Rin! I want pancakes for breakfast!"_ The little black Cait Sith exclaimed licking his mouth.

"Right! Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Rin nodded towards Shiemi who was staring at Kuro with that 'he's so cute' look all girls had for pets.

"Ah! Actually I haven't…" She focused her attention back to Rin.

"Do pancakes sound good?" Shiemi nodded enthusiastically and he smirked.

After about twenty minutes Rin presented a plate of magnificent pancakes covered with maple syrup and various red berries on top.

Shiemi –and Kuro- gaped at the immense pile Rin had made. "Wow! This looks delicious Rin!" She exclaimed with glitters in her eyes.

The chef smiled proudly. He had decided he would learn how to bake pancakes a few weeks ago since it was so simple and now it was coming in useful!

"Take some before Kuro eats them all." He said.

"_Yeah, she'd better!"_ Kuro grinned from ear to ear, just like a Cheshire cat.

Rin laughed heartily at that as he took some pancakes for himself after Shiemi had helped herself. Even though she was so small, she was known among the Exwires to be a big eater. She took at least ten of Rin's pancakes and finished them with ease, even taking more afterwards! Rin made fun of her for it and she scowled at him, which made him laugh in turn. He was happy to spend some good time with her like that, and if she was too, it couldn't be any better.

"How did you learn to cook so well? You never got to explain…" Shiemi asked after they had finished the last of the delicious pancakes. She was caressing Kuro's chin as he purred and rolled on his back since his belly was so round that he couldn't support himself on his little paws anymore.

"Yukio and I used to live in a monastery where none of the priests knew how to cook, so one day I decided I would learn."

"You're such a great cook! I wish I could bake stuff like that…" Shiemi mused now scratching Kuro's round tummy.

"Thanks…"He blushed slightly but a glint of determination soon flickered in his cobalt blue eyes. _'It's now or never…'_ he thought clenching his fists under the table. "You know, maybe I could teach you…If you want…" he lowered his head as he felt his cheeks grow warmer.

"You could?" She asked eagerly. Rin nodded. "That would be great!"

"Really? You want to?" Rin couldn't believe it. He was overjoyed to have an opportunity to spend more time with her. He smiled widely like a kid who had been promised some chocolate.

"Yeah! Then I'll be able to cook something great for Renzo!"

Rin's face fell. _'It's for him. She wants to learn how to cook for him.'_ He lowered his head to try and hide his eyes behind his bangs. He got his hopes up too high and now he paid the consequences. _'I'm her friend, nothing more. It'll have to sink in.' _

"Rin?" Shiemi asked worriedly seeing his mood had considerably darkened after her last comment. He lifted his head back up and gave her a forced smile.

"We'll arrange something. But you'll have to follow my every order!" He warned her.

Shiemi giggled and put her hand above her head in a salute. "Yes captain!"

Rin chuckled lightly. She brought her hand back down in a flash since Kuro complained loudly that she wasn't scratching him anymore. When she got back to work on his belly he started purring again to show his delight.

"He's so cute…" Shiemi let that comment slip without paying attention but the Cait Sith mewed in appreciation before opening an eye to gaze at his master.

"_This girl is nice Rin, is she your mate?"_

Rin –who had been in the process of drinking some orange juice- spit half of it out on the side in shock and almost choked.

"Rin, are you ok?" Shiemi turned to her best friend, surprised at his sudden reaction. She –unlike Rin- couldn't hear demon's voices.

"It's okay..." He stopped mid-sentence to cough a few times. "…Don't worry"

Silence engulfed them after that. Rin tried not to stare at Shiemi while she was still patting Kuro but as she did so, her mind seemed elsewhere. She decided to share her thoughts after a while.

"Rin, can I ask you something?"

The boy looked over at her again and noticed her gaze downcast and the rosy tint on her cheeks, probably from embarrassment at what she was going to ask. Rin braced himself before replying.

"Shoot."

"Have you…ever had a girlfriend?"

Ouch. Answering that would hurt his pride as well as embarrass him greatly. But what did he have to lose? He trusted Shiemi and honestly didn't think she would go and repeat a personal conversation like that to anyone.

"No, never. Why do you ask?"

"Really? Not even one?" Shiemi seemed truly surprised by his answer.

"Nope…Why are you looking at me like that?" He blushed tomato red as she stared at him in disbelief.

"It's just so hard to believe, you seem just like the kind of boy girls like."

It was Rin's turn to stare disbelievingly at her. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I mean you're kind, funny and from what I saw earlier…" She blushed at the memory of his fine muscles. "…Rather athletic too…"

At this point Rin was far worse than a tomato. _'Does she really think that about me!?'_ Even though he was extremely flattered and would treasure these words forever in his mind he waved it off and mustered the courage to finally ask:

"Why do you wanna know?"

Shiemi lifted her eyes up and met his to try and convince him better even though it sounded stupid to her. "I wanted to know if you could tell me about relationships, you know…How it works when you're with someone…" She was too embarrassed to withstand his intense gaze anymore so she turned her head to the side. "Renzo's my first boyfriend ever…"

"I'm sorry I can't help." Rin sighed apologetically, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it." She gave him a small smile. "Just one more thing…" _'Come on Shiemi, ask him! Just ask him the dumb question'_ she encouraged herself. "Since you didn't ever have a girlfriend, I suppose you…You never kissed someone, did you?"

'_Damn, just when I thought this couldn't get any more awkward.'_ Rin cursed in his mind. He looked back into Shiemi's eyes and it was just like the other day back in the corridor behind the pillar. Time stopped, and he only saw her and her pleading green eyes. She looked as if she was asking him a favor by telling her about past experiences. He couldn't refuse her that, not with that 'sad puppy' look on her pretty face.

"No, I've never kissed any girl." _'Though I wish I could right now.'_ He added in his mind.

"Me neither."

Rin stared at her in confusion so she explained better. "I haven't kissed Renzo…And I'm not sure I want to yet…"

The half demon couldn't help but be glad to hear that. Holding hands and embracing were already bad but _kissing _would be way worse to him, he wouldn't be able to stand it.

"It's okay, I'm sure he can wait."

"I hope so…"She lowered her head in thoughts before she remembered something and stood up. "I'm sorry, I have to go. My mother asked me to come back ASAP to help her with the shop, she'll be so mad if I stay any longer."

"Tell her it's my fault if she starts yelling at you, that I made you wait on the doorstep." Rin stood up as well.

He accompanied her to the door and waved back at her when she said goodbye. Even when she was gone he couldn't help but think about her and their awkward conversation. He only found one solution to his problem at this unholy hour on a Sunday morning:

"Come on Kuro, let's go back to sleep."

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**A.N/:** _To those who wondered about Renzo only using Shiemi to get to Izumo well...It's part of the truth. He thinks she is cute so he doesn't mind dating her but he is nowhere near as in love with her as Rin is! That was just to clarify things a bit.^^_

_Next chapter will have a very jealous and frustrated Rin... So stay tuned!_

_Reviews make me happy, feel free to leave one!_


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N/:**_Hey! Sorry for the wait!^^"_

_ Now things are going to get interesting (hopefully), so go ahead and read, it's right below!_

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**Chapter 7**

A week. It had been a week since Renzo and Shiemi started dating. To Rin it felt like several centuries… A week of seeing them flirt, hold hands, hug and kiss (never on the lips, thank god) had been enough to almost make him explode. He had already imagined the worst scenarios. His favorite –and most hated- was by far the one where Shiemi ended up marrying Shima and he had to see it all, as her best friend. Then the Vatican would have him killed because of whatever crap he would have done at the wedding… Thinking back to it, it would be far worse if he had to stand his whole demon life without Shiemi…

This state of frustration couldn't be called jealousy anymore, it was much worse. Rin was tired of keeping that façade in front of her all the time. He was sore, drained and half depressed. He had discovered he had had a crush on Shiemi for some time and fallen even deeper in love with her, had built his hopes too high and fallen painfully numerous times, had treasured all her smiles more than he ever did before… And all that had happened only in the span of a week.

'_Dang, I am so lovesick…'_ He grumbled tiredly at the thought, ruffling his hair and sitting down at his desk in the exorcism classroom.

For once, he was the first there. He surprised himself sometimes… But being alone in the classroom also meant being assaulted by his thoughts of Shiemi. He groaned in annoyance again and just then the door opened to reveal the Kyoto gang and Shiemi –holding Shima's hand- as well as Izumo, walking a few paces away from the others.

"Mornin' man!" Shima greeted cheerfully.

"Hello Rin." Shiemi saluted. The other two just waved.

Rin didn't react so they thought he hadn't heard them. In fact, he was still deep in thoughts. Shiemi hadn't spent much time with him these days and he missed her presence badly even though he had a hard time admitting it. _'She probably prefers spending time with her dear boyfriend' _he gritted his teeth as the thought crossed his mind. He barely talked to Shima anymore. Not because he hated him, not exactly, but because every time he saw him he couldn't help imagining Shiemi smiling lovingly in his arms, happy…He couldn't stand it.

"Rin, can I have a word with you please?"

The half demon lifted his head up to meet Shiemi's gaze. It was obvious judging by the fists she clenched on the fabric of her uniform skirt, the slight blush on her cheeks and the look on her face that she was nervous. He couldn't help but wonder why as he nodded casually.

"Go ahead."

"I…I mean privately." She stuttered as the others looked suspiciously their way.

Rin got up without a word and followed her outside the classroom. The other Exwires stared after them but remained silent for a while as the large wooden door closed behind Rin.

"Tch…" Izumo sighed, propping her chin on her hand.

"What's wrong Izumo-chan?" Renzo asked, curious.

"This situation is so ridiculous." She stared at the wall next to her as not to meet the idiot's gaze.

"What do you mean…?"

"You know perfectly well what she means." Ryuji spat in a harsh and low voice. Since Renzo was staring confusedly between his childhood friend and Izumo, Konekomaru decided to enlighten him.

"You know Rin likes Shiemi as well as we do, so why did you ask her out last week?"

"Really? He likes her? I hadn't noticed…" He said rubbing his chin though his tone wasn't all that serious.

"You're blind or something!? He's head over heels in love with her!" Ryuji interrupted, slamming his hand on his desk and standing up.

Renzo sighed deeply. "Ok, ok…I know he likes her but I kinda like Shiemi too and…" He lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned down to his two childhood friends. "…I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone by dating a cute girl and making Izumo jealous…"

"WHAT!?" Ryuji shouted completely scandalized.

He got his voice back to a normal level. "I know it's against the 'bro rules' to steal a friend's girl but I was running out of solutions to get little miss over there AND Shiemi's particularly cute." He defended himself, emphasizing the part about Shiemi.

"Excuse me!?" Izumo yelled from across the room, her temper already rising.

"But Rin's been acting weird these days and I think it has a lot to do with you hooking up with Shiemi…" Konekomaru argued.

Everyone became silent when people screaming could be heard from outside. Ryuji, Konekomaru and Izumo exchanged puzzled looks.

"Seems the little talk didn't go as planned." Renzo muttered, staring at the door like all the others.

"They're arguing?" Konekomaru was shocked. He had never heard Shiemi yell at someone before.

They couldn't make out the words but it seemed like they were having a serious row. No one said a word in the classroom as silence engulfed them again. But this time, they didn't hear any screams. About a minute later, entered the room with a red eyed Shiemi.

"Babe, what happened!?" Shima went to take Shiemi in his arms but she pushed him away weakly. She sat next to him nonetheless but kept sniffling and didn't say a word.

"Well…Let's begin today's lesson." said discretely as always.

Ryuji grumbled something under his breath. Konekomaru looked over at his friend inquisitively. The tall teen sighed.

"I'll be the first to tell you not to mind other people's business but this is really getting annoying."

* * *

Rin closed the door after him and turned to Shiemi who was leaning against the wall.

"What did you wanna talk about?" He inquired casually, trying to rid himself of his earlier thoughts.

"I…"

She was embarrassed, he could tell. But he honestly found nothing to do to make her feel better so he just leant on the wall beside her. He thought he saw her jump slightly even though he had been careful to leave a fair distance between the two of them. He kept his eyes on the paved floor, feeling too awkward to do anything. Soon his thoughts assaulted him again. _'What is she thinking about? Did she break up with Shima? No, she was holding his hand when she came in class…Then why is she so embarrassed? Crap, this must be bad news. Brace yourself Rin…' _

"Rin, I'm sorry I didn't spend much time with you these days…" She started shyly, still not looking at him.

He turned to look at her face, she wasn't completely red like he had expected but instead had a rosy blush on her cheeks. Though what was most noticeable was that she looked sad somehow …

"Shiemi, you okay?" He asked without thinking, sounding worried.

She turned to him for a brief second then averted her gaze again when she saw the honest look in his beautiful cobalt eyes. She nodded quickly.

"Yeah, but I'm sorry…"

Rin couldn't possibly start about how he had missed her presence by his side so he decided to reassure her instead. "It's okay, I'm not mad…" He even managed to add a small smirk.

She gave him a sad smile _'He won't like it…'_ she thought. "I'm sorry I can't hang out with you more often."

"I said it's okay, you…"

"You don't understand, I mean I won't be spending more time with you!" She blurted out, shutting her eyes tightly.

She remembered Renzo's words yesterday. _'Why do you stay with Rin so much? I'm your boyfriend you know, you should start hanging out with me more or I'll start thinking you're cheating on me!' _He had said that in a joking tone but she had taken it really seriously. She was sure he was reproaching her with not behaving well as his girlfriend and wanted to make things right. She didn't know anything about relationships but was determined to be a good girlfriend and for that, she needed to make sacrifices and see Rin a bit less even though he was such a precious friend to her. She hoped he would understand.

Rin's eyes widened. _'She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore?'_ His heart started to ache more and more until it felt like it bled. No more Shiemi, no more laughter, no more fun times, no more smiles…

"What…?" He let out in a small voice.

"I'm sorry but Renzo…" She cut in not hearing him.

He didn't hear whatever she said after that as he drowned in thoughts again. _'Renzo what? Of course he's much better than me: he's handsome, funny, gallant…What else could you ask for? You love him.' _He lowered his head and his eyes darkened. He got off the wall and clenched his fists to try and calm himself but even if he clenched them until his hands bled it wouldn't be enough to ease the pain.

"Rin?"

He kept thinking about all the things Shima had that he didn't. About all the times he saw them laughing and smiling at each other. He clenched his teeth. _'What could a demon like me possibly offer?'_

"Rin are you okay…?"

It hurt. It hurt so bad he wanted to scream. Only a week and he already felt so much pain… He had had enough _'She wants to let me go? Fine whatever, I'll be better off without her…'_ That was what he wanted to think but he knew he wasn't being honest with himself. He wanted her by his side. He couldn't stand it if she left him, he never would. What he really wanted deep inside his heart was to have her for himself. No Renzo, no one else, just him. He knew it was a selfish thought but that was what he truly wished. And he could never have it… _'I'm Satan's son, she'll never love me.'_

"Rin…" Shiemi was confused by his silence. She tried to touch his arm but he briskly jerked it away. "Rin I'm sorry, it's just…"

"SHUT UP!"

His outburst made her silent. He still wouldn't look at her but she could see his wild eyes behind his messy raven bangs.

"You don't need me anymore, right? What are you still doing here then?" He spat callously.

"No, Rin you don't get it! I…"

"You what!? You found better so now you let me go? Go ahead! I don't care!"

She knew he didn't mean that but couldn't help but be shaken by his harsh tone.

"Just let me explain you idiot!" She yelled back.

"I don't care about your explanation! I don't care about you anymore!" He immediately regretted these words when he saw the broken look on her face. It was all a lie, he couldn't help caring about her but he was far too frustrated to stop himself. "I've had enough Shiemi! I can't take it anymore!" He roared.

"Listen to me! I…" She extended her hand to touch his shoulder so he would turn to face her but it was the last straw for him.

Before she knew it, she was pinned against the wall and speechless. The last thing he had said was true contrary to the rest. He really couldn't take it anymore. She was right there, as beautiful as always and he couldn't have her just because he was her best friend. After all he had said he doubted she would consider him like that anymore. He didn't have anything to lose.

She looked up at him with her gorgeous emerald eyes wide open in shock. He held her wrists above her head with his strong hands. Her skin was as soft as he had imagined. Shiemi was utterly confused by his actions but couldn't do anything since he cornered her completely. She searched his gaze behind his dark bangs and was stunned to see all the anger from earlier gone. He looked sad, lost, and almost desperate to find something by looking back intensely into her eyes.

She felt her heart beat wildly into her chest. She had never felt like that in her whole life, even with Renzo. But she couldn't place the name of this feeling, she was way too confused. Rin's heart went crazy as well. His brain didn't respond as he slowly leaned down closer to Shiemi's face.

'_What is he doing? Is he…?'_ She started panicking and blushing more than ever. _'He's going to kiss me!? I've never kissed anyone! What am I going to do?"_She shut her watery eyes tightly and felt a small tear roll down her right cheek.

Rin was so close now that he felt her soft breath on his skin. Mere inches separated their lips, mere inches between him and the one person he really desired… He wanted to do this so bad. _'She's gonna leave me anyway…'_ He thought even though his mind was a bit foggy. _'Just do it. Do it!'_

He couldn't. Not when he saw the crystal tears falling from her tightly closed eyes.

He took a deep breath- she smelled of flowers, naturally- before leaning away from her. She slowly opened her eyes and just had time to see him reaching out his hand to wipe away one of her tears with his thumb before he walked away from her, the opposite way of the classroom.

"Rin…" She murmured his name then called louder. "Rin!"

He didn't turn around, if he did he would never be able to face her again. Not that she would want to. She'd never let him close to her after what he had done. He turned around the corner and exited the exorcism school as appeared in the corridor.

* * *

**A.N/:** _I know, I know...I make Rin suffer quite a lot but there would be no story if everything was just rainbows and ponies!_

_Oh, and that chapter clarifies stuff for the Shiemi/Shima/Izumo thing._

_As always, thanks to every single one of you who reviewed/favorited/follows/reads this! I couldn't be any happier!^^_

_~If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know in a tiny little review. It's nothing but it makes me so happy~_


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N/: **_I just realized Yukio is the one to suffer Rin's stubborness every time he wouldn't get out of bed...Maybe Kuro's just too lazy... _

_Anyway, Thanks you so much to everyone who reads/favorited/follows/reviewed this! I'm so happy this story gets attention! I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter.^^_

* * *

_**Chapter 8**_

"You can't stay in bed the whole day Nii-san." Yukio sighed, since long ready to go to school.

"Watch me." Rin grunted from his bed.

Yukio had been trying to get Rin out of his comfy bed for a good ten minutes but without success. He had heard his brother had skipped exorcism class the day before. Shiemi wouldn't say a thing so he was left as confused as all the others. She had sniffled most of the afternoon yesterday without the Exwires being able to do anything about it. Rin on the other hand, had spent the last day in bed and wouldn't get out of the comfort his covers provided for the life of him this morning despite all Yukio's efforts.

"Stop acting like a little kid!" No reaction. "This is middle school all over again, you're silent and grumpy like when you used to skip school all the time! You think that's going to solve anything!?" Yukio started getting annoyed with this situation.

"Leave me alone Yukio." Rin grumbled, his back still facing his brother.

'_He wouldn't get it'_ Rin thought tiredly. Shiemi would never want to see him again after what had happened the afternoon before and he wasn't ready to face the others and their questions yet. Especially Shima, how could he possibly go and talk to the boyfriend of a girl he had almost kissed? _'What if Shiemi told him?' _ She probably did. She was scared of him now but he didn't blame her. It was entirely his fault after all… _'My life sucks…'_

"No, I'm not going to leave you alone! You remember the meeting last week? The teachers kept telling me how terrible you were in every class, do you even imagine how embarrassing that was!?" Yukio shouted losing his temper at the thought of all the nasty comments he had heard about his 'good for nothing' brother that day.

"Just go away Yukio!" Rin cried out.

"If you don't do anything you won't be able to stay in the academy! I already told you, so why don't you get a move on!? You said you would think about it!"

"I have other things to worry about, so are you gonna leave me alone or what!?"

Yukio's patience was running low. "I don't care what happened between Shiemi and you! I don't give a damn ok! But you said you would become an exorcist…!"

"What does it have to do with…!?" Rin interrupted him but Yukio cut in again.

"You can't become an exorcist if you get kicked out of the Academy you prick!"

Rin was silent after that. He thought nothing mattered anymore now that Shiemi hated him but he had forgotten one very important thing_. 'I have to go and kick Satan's ass'_. And to do that, he needed to be prepared. He couldn't be forced to leave until he had reached his goal. There were still many people to protect and he wouldn't let them die because of his selfishness, he had promised on his father's grave.

Yukio knew he had made a good point. He needed to add the last straw to convince him: "Also if you start studying, you won't have to think about whatever happened with Shiemi. She isn't in the high school."

Touché. Rin sighed and got up lazily. Yukio blinked in surprise as he realized his brother had slept in his school uniform. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair all over his face. He ran a hand through his bangs out of habit and grabbed the Komaken next to his bed along with a few books which he put carelessly into his bag.

"Let's go." He passed by Yukio and walked to the door.

The younger twin couldn't help but smile proudly at his negotiating skills before he followed his brother downstairs.

Rin sat down leaning against a tree in the high school's campus. It was lunch break and he had managed to make some kind of sandwich in only two minutes with what he had found in the kitchen this morning before going to school.

He hadn't listened much in class. Just something about cellular division in biology… _'The heck is it again?'_

He didn't think it through too much, taking another bite of his sandwich, bored. He was glad Shiemi wasn't in the high school, that way he wouldn't have to see her cower behind Shima for protection when she saw him. _'What protection? The guy's afraid of spiders…' _He thought, munching on his bread and salad. _Didn't I put tomatoes and mustard? Ah, there they are…'_ His thoughts soon drifted back to Shiemi however. He was somehow disappointed not to see her, even if it was just to have her be scared or angry at him. He already missed her, knowing that she would never smile at him or even want to talk to him again…

His heart began aching again. It happened way too much these days. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to make the pain go away but as always, he didn't succeed.

"Hey Rin!"

He lifted his head up to see Renzo jogging his way, closely followed by Ryuji and Konekomaru. _'Shit. This had to happen eventually…'_ He thought, sighing. Renzo was either going to yell at him for ever touching his girlfriend or beat him up to a bloody pulp. Or at least try to, since Rin was way out of his league for that kind of thing. Maybe if Ryuji and Koneko backed him up…

"What happened yesterday? Shiemi didn't say anything." Renzo asked, still shocked by his girlfriend's behavior.

Rin's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up. _'She didn't tell them? Why?'_ He stared at the grass on the ground, completely confused.

"She seemed to have been crying when she came back to class." Konekomaru added worriedly.

"And where were you all afternoon? You skipped?" Ryuji inquired.

They were all giving Rin questioning looks._ 'What is it? A cross interrogation?_' he thought, bemused. The voice at the back of his head told him they were just curious and worried but he couldn't shake off his confusion at Shiemi not telling them anything. It was her right. She would have been the poor innocent victim while Rin would have passed as a filthy pervert… His friends would have hated his guts and he would have been all alone again, watching Shiemi live her happy life with her boyfriend…

'_It's not like her. Even if it was my fault, she wouldn't do that to me.'_ His eyes widened a bit more at the realization but he soon got back down to reality. _'She still hates me.'_

"Rin, say something man!" Renzo exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.

The half demon sighed. He couldn't tell them, he just couldn't… "It's none of your business." He didn't even bother to lift up his gaze to meet theirs.

"Tch…" Ryuji's temper slowly rose. Konekomaru felt it coming and gave him a warning look which he ignored. "What have you done again?"

The memories flashed before his eyes. Him shouting at Shiemi, him pinning her against the wall, her eyes widening in fear, the tears running on her pale cheeks…

Rin turned his head away "Like I said, none of your business."

"I'm her boyfriend man!" Renzo defended his title, outraged.

"Like I need you to remind me…" He mumbled too low for the others to hear, then raised his voice a bit louder. "If Shiemi doesn't want to tell you, then I won't either…" He was still looking at the ground somberly.

"I asked you a question!" Ryuji shouted. "Shiemi's our friend as well and you did something to her! Tell us!"

This was really starting to piss him off. Rin gave his rival a dark look. He wasn't going to tell, that was final. Ryuji returned the glare and turned around.

"You'd better go apologize before we get on your case." He said in a low tone.

Rin sighed as he watched them go, Konekomaru and even Renzo trying to –unsuccessfully- calm Ryuji. Rin had never realized his rival cared so much about Shiemi. The Exwires formed a small close group after all, it wasn't so odd for Ryuji to stand up for one of them. However Renzo's behavior had surprised him. He hadn't insisted all that much to learn the truth about the day, even if it concerned his girlfriend.

The half demon sat back down, running a hand through his hair. _'There you go, all alone again.'_ He thought tiredly. He had won the jackpot, now not only Shiemi hated him but his friends as well. But what else could he have done? Shout at Shima's face that he was crazy in love with his girlfriend and that he had nearly kissed her in the corridor? _'Yeah sure…'_

He was tired of all this mess, he wished he could go back to the time when Shiemi was still his friend and he spent his days having fun with her and all of the other Exwires. Rin closed his eyes, trying to remember all these good times they had spent together. Memories of the past days flashed in his mind instead. He couldn't take it anymore when he saw Shiemi's scared eyes again.

He let out a loud growl, making some passersby turn around to give him curious looks. He glared at some of them but all that didn't free him of his thoughts at all. He took his head in his hands and tried to shake off his problems but that didn't work either. His eyes fell on his half eaten sandwich when he finally gave up. He picked it up and put it back into a plastic bag and into his school bag, not hungry anymore. He stared into the horizon for a little while after that but no matter how hard he tried, all his thoughts drifted back to Shiemi.

Rin sighed in frustration again then turned his head to scan for something to do in the forty five minutes he still had for lunch break. He eyed his school bag indifferently and recalled Yukio's words this morning: _'The teachers kept telling me how terrible you were in every class, do you imagine how embarrassing that was!?...'_ he had said_'…Also if you start studying, you won't have to think about whatever happened with Shiemi.'_

Rin kept staring a little longer then finally picked up his bag and searched through it for his biology text book. He opened it to the sequence about Cellular division _'To hell with it…'_

* * *

**A.N/:**_ Don't ask, I don't know why I came up with cellular division, I just did...-_-"_

_I'll make sure to upload the next chapter soon, but don't expect it to be daily update like before because...Hell...Hum, I mean, **school** started again so I'll be busier than before._

_Anyway, thanks for reading! If you liked it please leave a little review to tell me what you thought!_


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N/:**_Ok, this chapter is more Shiemi centered but trust me, it's still good! I don't really know why people don't like her sometimes...Can anyone enlighten me?_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always thanks to everyone who reads/follows/favorited/reviewed this story! It always makes me look like a Cheshire cat when I smile while reading a review.^^_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Shiemi entered the exorcism classroom on her own the next day. She hadn't told anyone about what had happened two days before with Rin and was rather uncomfortable with Renzo. He had tried to get the truth out of her all afternoon yesterday in class, but she wouldn't say anything. She was still very puzzled with what had happened the other day and didn't know how to act towards Rin. He had been silent since then, never looking up from his textbook, and she hadn't dared talk to him. She had however noticed the sad look on his face when she had passed by him.

She still had no idea why he had tried to kiss her. Was it an impulse? Did he want to scare her? If so, it hadn't worked very well because she could never be scared by Rin. She knew he would never do anything bad to her. She was just so surprised by his actions, she hadn't known how to react since her brain went crazy. Her emotions had completely submerged her. What did scare her on the other hand was the last eventuality. Maybe he had acted like that because…He had feelings for her?

She shook her head back and forth to rid herself of these thoughts. Rin was her best friend, he couldn't think of her that way. It was impossible. But he was always so nice to her…He always watched over her and made her happy…

She sat down at her desk beside Shima. The Kyoto trio was there early as usual. Izumo and Takara too, but Rin was still missing.

"Hey there babe, feeling okay?" Renzo greeted her.

She nodded and gave him the smallest of a smile. Konekomaru and Ryuji turned to acknowledge her presence with a little wave.

"We have demonology first, right?" Renzo asked his childhood friends.

Koneko nodded. "Yes, then magic circles study and lastly pharmacology."

"Magic circles? You think Miss Kirigakure's gonna bring whisky this time?" the pink haired teen joked.

"I think she prefers Sake…" Konekomaru sighed.

"How d'you know!?" Renzo exclaimed, leaning flat on his desk towards his interlocutor.

The conversation went on but Shiemi didn't take part in it. She was still thinking about Rin. _'Why would he fall for me? I'm too weak for him. But what he did…'_ She blushed at the memory of his face inching closer towards her. Their lips had been barely inches apart, she had felt his warm breath on her skin and her heart beating faster against his…

"Babe, you're alright?"

Shiemi was now blushing crimson red. What was wrong with her? Thinking about it like that…

"Yeah, don't worry!" She tried to suppress the heavy blush on her cheeks and flashed her boyfriend a reassuring smile.

"If you say so…" He said turning back to Konekomaru.

Shiemi turned her head away from the others, engulfed in her thoughts again. Rin still wasn't there even though class was about to start. Did something happen to him? _'Wait a second, why can't I stop thinking about him!?'_ Strange…Even though he was her best friend she had never found herself thinking about him so much. It was probably because of their situation. _'Rin…'_ Now that she thought about it he always lowered his eyes whenever she mentioned Renzo after they had gotten together, he avoided the subject as much as he could and kept averting his gaze whenever she added his name in the conversation before quickly changing the subject. _'He seemed so sad…'_ Maybe he _did _have feelings for her, but how could she be sure, she was so confused…

The door opened to reveal Rin entering the classroom, as silent as before and with a book under his arm. He didn't even greet the others and sat down at his usual spot in the front row. She watched him open his book and start reading it straight away, without looking at anyone in the room. _'He looks so lonely.'_ She kept staring at him turning a page every once in a while. _'There's something terribly wrong with him… I want to help him…'_ She thought but knew she couldn't. He was probably mad at her for telling him all these things last time and she was far too baffled by her thoughts to say anything coherent to him.

The teacher suddenly made his entrance and stood behind the desk in front of his pupils. "Good afternoon Exwires, let's begin today's lesson. Does anyone know what a Metamorph is?"

The classroom was silent for a while. Shiemi hadn't had time to revise these days and was left waiting for either Ryuji or Izumo to tell them since they were always the best pupils. The pigtailed girl didn't offer to answer the question, maybe she wasn't in the mood today. But what surprised all the audience most was that despite that, Ryuji wasn't the only one to raise his hand.

"Yes, ?"

Everyone -the teacher included- had their eyes as wide as saucers. Rin **never **answered questions in class if he wasn't forced to. He **never**, ever volunteered and was easily the worst among them when it came to theory classes. But surely enough, he stood up and started reciting:

"Metamorphs are demons that possess water, mud or paint…Basically any semi-solid materials. They create illusions to disorient their victims, using their fears or weaknesses…A bit like Maras, right?"

The whole class stared in awe. Shiemi and Izumo gasped, even the teacher had to readjust his glasses to see if he wasn't dreaming. Rin was seemingly unfazed but smirked innerly.

"That's perfectly right…" The teacher cleared his throat more professionally. "Can you tell me to which Prince of Gehenna they are affiliated?"

"Azazel, king of air."

They all gaped at Rin, completely and utterly bewildered.

"That's correct…" They could tell the teacher was amazed too as he stared at Rin with the widest eyes they had ever seen. He tried pushing his luck a bit further. "Do you know any other of Azazel's servants by any chance?"

"Err…Ghosts?"

Ryuji actually fell off his chair as Rin answered correctly again. "What happened to you!? How do you know all that!?" he shouted.

He gave him an arrogant look before sitting back down and crossing his arms.

The lesson went on and Rin was quiet again, but after a while he got a notebook from his bag and started not only paying attention to what the teacher said but actually_ taking notes_! The others were totally amazed by his behavior and had a hard time concentrating on the lesson. Rin answered a few more questions to everyone's surprise ("_It wasn't just a one time thing!?"_ Ryuji had whispered to Konekomaru, both completely aghast). Rin acted the same way during the next lesson, and the next… This was undeniably a miracle.

The boys had tried to ask him what happened to him in only the span of a day during the break between two lessons, but he would only point a finger at his head and say _"It's all in there"_ as an explanation. Shiemi wasn't fooled by his silly little grin. She knew him well enough to tell this was his façade. When Rin smiled genuinely it was always large, broad grins, smirks or, every once in a while, a small honest smile, but only for her.

She blushed a bit at that. _'Why didn't I realize that before?'_ She thought. She couldn't help looking over at Rin in the first row. His back was to her and she could only see little of his face since his untidy raven bangs were all over it, as usual. He suddenly turned around, feeling eyes on his back, and she was quite startled by his gaze. His eyes were usually so blue and full of life…Now they looked blank and empty. Shiemi blushed even more and quickly averted her gaze in embarrassment, however she didn't miss him turning back to his book with a sad look and a sigh.

Something was definitely wrong with him. She wanted to do something, anything that could help him but she didn't know what. Even worse, how could she possibly help him without knowing what was wrong with _her_ in the first place? Ever since that day when they had argued she had felt different. She clenched her fist against her heart. Her thoughts were way too hard to sort on her own.

"Good afternoon class," Yukio came into the room and sat at the teacher's desk. "Today we're going to start with a little surprise test."

Whines of dismay and Renzo's _"Oh man!" _were heard around the classroom. Yukio was worse than a demon when he entered 'teacher mode'. He asked Izumo to give out the papers, which she did and about fifteen minutes later Yukio told them to drop their pens and took the copies back.

Shiemi sighed. Pharmacology was her favorite subject since she liked plants so much but she had a hard time concentrating this time. She thought about her feelings and Rin again as Yukio began explaining today's program. _'I'm so confused…What's going on with me…'_ She knew she wouldn't find an answer alone. She turned to Renzo in realization. _'Oh no…That's too embarrassing…'_ Usually she would turn to Rin when she had problems like that, but this time she couldn't, not after all that had happened. If she really wanted to know, she didn't have a choice.

She did her best to tear a page of her notebook as silently as possible and took out a pen to write a message on it. She folded it thrice to reduce it to a small square and waited for Yukio to turn around to the black board to toss it towards Renzo.

He didn't notice it at first so Shiemi had to clear her throat quietly. Only then did he face her and see the paper in front of him when she gestured to it. She blushed in embarrassment as he read it:

_*How do you know when you're truly in love?*_

He blinked twice, trying to understand why she would ask such a thing but eventually picked up a pen and wrote back:

_*Whenever I look at you of course~ ;-)*_

She should have known he would answer with something cheesy like that. He always did. But she needed a serious reply, not the wink he gave her when she turned to face him disbelievingly. She gave him her reply:

_*Seriously, this is important.*_

He looked over at her and saw her determined eyes despite the rosy tint of her cheeks. So he took a little longer to write back:

_*I don't really know, I never felt true love for anyone. But it doesn't stop me from liking girls~ I guess –from what I heard- you get all flustered for nothing and your heart starts beating a 100miles/h like they say…You can't stop thinking about that person and you want to be with him/her all the time… Honestly, you should ask Izumo-chan! Apparently she likes shojo mangas!^^*_

The first thing she stopped on was his first sentence. _"I never felt true love for anyone."_ In fact, it didn't shock her all that much. She wasn't even angry. True she had liked Renzo at some point, but now that she had got to know him better she considered him more like a friend… Her eyes widened for a split second but she quickly recovered and thought _'At least this works, I can finally sort my thoughts.'_

She then read the next part of the message, at least three times, before she started comparing the symptoms Renzo described with what she felt about Rin.

"…_you get flustered for nothing" _That wasn't much of an indication since Shiemi blushed pretty much all the time, even if only a little. But flustered…Yes she had been flustered when she was with Rin, numerous times even. They just tended to get into weird and embarrassing situations together…If being in the same room and mere meters away from each other was considered a weird situation…

"…_your heart starts beating a 100miles/h" _She had to admit, that happened a lot… Especially the other day when he had cornered her, her heart had gone completely mad with him being so close to her, and she knew for sure that it wasn't because of fear.

"…_You can't stop thinking about that person" _That was true too. She was so worried about Rin these days, she couldn't help thinking about him all day. She felt heat coming to her cheeks again, realizing that even before there had been days when she had been bored running the supply shop and spent the afternoon thinking about Rin and what he was doing.

"…_you want to be with him/her all the time" _She wasn't sure about that one. But to be honest, she really wanted to be with Rin right now. She wished he hadn't gotten mad and run away that day, that they were still friends and happy together. She missed him a lot and wanted him by her side again, for as long as possible, maybe even forever…

'_Aaah! Don't start thinking like that!' _ She shook her head back and forth, trying to get rid of her thoughts. She didn't notice the suspicious look Yukio was giving her though. The young teacher knew perfectly well that she wasn't paying attention today and it was time he did something about it.

"Miss Moriyama," Shiemi got up and out of her reverie at the sound of her name "Could you tell us which kind of plant is the most effective against bacteria?"

"Err…Hum…" She stuttered and even though she searched cautiously in her memories, the answer just slipped out of her mind. "I don't know, I'm sorry…" She lowered her head in embarrassment _'Why can't I remember!?'_ she scolded herself.

"You'll have to listen more carefully Miss Moriyama, I said it only ten minutes ago." Yukio remarked mercilessly. "Does anyone know the answer to that question?" He looked around the other pupils and was quite surprised to see Rin's hand slowly rise. "Yes ?" He called his brother, wide eyed in shock and disbelief.

"Moss and bracken."

Yukio couldn't believe it. "Wha…What?" he let out weakly, readjusting his glasses.

"The answer's moss and bracken." Rin repeated still unfazed but quite proud that he managed to surprise his brother like that.

Yukio was speechless for a while and such a heavy silence engulfed the room, you could hear Coal-tars flying around.

"Tha…That's correct, Thank you ." Yukio managed to say when he got his voice back. He quickly went on with his lesson, trying to get over such a supernatural event.

Shiemi couldn't get her eyes off Rin for some reason. Even if it was good that he did well in class now she knew it wasn't his normal behavior. She had to talk to him and apologize for what she had said to him. That was the least she could do, even though he probably hated her now… Her heart ached at the thought…

She thought about her earlier realizations and picked up her pen again to write to Renzo:

_*I'm sorry, but I think it'd be best if we stayed friends. Thank you. XXX*_

She tossed it for him to read but he returned it surprisingly fast after writing his reply:

_*No prob. Can I get the kisses for real?~*_

* * *

**A.N/:** _I really like that ending! XD Renzo doesn't ever know when to stop, does he?..._

_I've always wanted to write something with a tex message conversation or something of the like, that's why the paper thing happened. And seriously, who never did that in class (don't lie to me)?_

_If you liked this chapter please review, and I hope you'll stay tuned until the next one!_


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N/:**_ I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had a lot of tests these days and couldn't post anything!_

_Anyway, thanks to everyone who isn't going to bite my head off for that (and the others too, just don't hurt me too bad please... 'kay?^^") and who reads/follows/reviewed/favorited this story! Even though there's not much action in this chapter, I hope you'll still like it._

_Izumo is back in the spotlight! You have been warned..._

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The last days had been the most tiring in all of Shiemi's life. She had been trying to get a hold of Rin for almost a week now but he seemed to avoid her like plague.

On Monday (the day she had realized she may have had a tiny little crush on Rin) he had exited the classroom so fast no one had even noticed him. Maybe it had something to do with Shiemi kissing Renzo on the cheek…

On Tuesday, (the day with the most boring classes) there had been so many written tests she couldn't even try to say a word to him. What surprised her and her fellow Exwires though, was that Rin finished his tests almost first every time, followed closely by Izumo & Ryuji.

Wednesday (the day Shiemi had realized she may have more than a tiny crush on Rin) was the day when Yukio gave back their surprise tests. He had been so wide eyed when he gave Rin his, he got a 74/100. Considering Rin's grades never usually exceeded 15 points, Yukio had even clapped and given his brother a pat on the back proudly. After the school day was over Rin had stormed out of the classroom his textbook still in hand, studying non-stop. Therefore Shiemi couldn't go and talk to him.

On Thursday (the day she realized she was really desperate to talk to Rin), she had even followed him to the high-school in the morning. She had been so embarrassed, walking around in her kimono on the high school grounds (her mother would have been way too suspicious if she had gone out in her uniform). She had asked everywhere for where Rin was but no one seemed to really know. Shiemi hadn't given up and had spent the rest of the day either waiting outside doing homework during high school classes or running around looking for Rin during breaks. When she did spot him was when he entered the exorcism classroom right after the teacher. She couldn't talk to him as the lesson began immediately afterwards.

On Friday (the day when she realized she was truly in love with Rin) she had prepared a plan that would enable her to talk to him. She would go to the Okumura brothers' dorm and walk with them to school, pretending she got lost in the maze that the Academy was. Only when she got there Yukio was alone and told her that Rin had gone early to revise some more before classes started. She had been so disappointed she had almost cried her eyes out in front of Yukio but thankfully she had managed to run away right before she broke down.

Today was Saturday and she was on edge. They only had exorcism class in the morning, meaning it was only then that she would see Rin. Her mother had asked her to keep the supply shop this afternoon so she barely had half an hour after class to catch him.

It could be either during a break or after class, it didn't matter. She had to get her message through. She bit her thumb as she walked in a brisk pace through the corridors. If she didn't succeed, she would give up. She was almost sure Rin hated her and didn't want to talk to her so if this time she didn't manage to catch him, she would let him be, no matter how painful that was. She had made up her mind.

Shiemi didn't lift her head up so engulfed in her thoughts as she was, and kept on walking for a while with her eyes glued to the floor before she heard footsteps in front of her.

She looked up and saw Izumo turning to enter the classroom on her own. What a letdown. She had expected Rin to be there, walking casually with a hand in his pants' pocket and the other holding a book. She sighed deeply and the pigtailed girl turned around at the sound.

Shiemi lifted her head up again and gave a small forced smile. "Good morning Izumo."

"Don't bother smiling if it's a fake." Izumo let the hand that used to hold the door's handle fall to her side and turned to face the blonde standing a few steps away.

"Wh…What?" Shiemi gasped.

"Tch…" Izumo knew when she saw the look on the kimono clad girl that she had to give an explanation. She sighed "…Don't think you can fool anyone with that pitiful façade, that's all I'm saying."

Shiemi remained stunned on her spot for a moment. Izumo took it as her cue to leave but the blonde immediately looked up at the sound of her footsteps.

"Wait, Izumo!"

"What?" She turned around again, slightly annoyed.

Shiemi lowered her head and brought her hands to her chest_. 'Now what?...I mustn't depend on others like that, I'm only a bother when I act that way but…'_

"I don't know what to do…" She let out weakly.

Izumo tilted her head in confusion. "Whatever you have to say, do it quickly. I have other things to do."

"I don't know…" Shiemi whispered. She wouldn't be able to get out of this situation on her own, she needed help or advice. Today was her last chance, she had to succeed. "Rin has been avoiding me all week but, I really need to talk to him! I don't know what to do! If I don't do anything he's going to keep running and I will never be able to clarify anything! I don't know what to do…"

Izumo narrowed her eyes, these pathetic friendship issues didn't interest her in the least. "Is that all? Tch…"

She was about to walk away but Shiemi quickly interrupted her.

"I need to tell him how I feel!" She blushed crimson red. She didn't think she would have to tell Izumo that to convince her. But she had to try, even though she doubted this argument would have any effect on…

"You what!?"

In the mere second Shiemi had closed her eyes during her confession, the dark haired girl had literally appeared in front of her, staring intently at her with wide crimson eyes and a light pink blush on her cheeks.

"I…I have to tell Rin…How much I care about him…" She shut her eyes closed once more in embarrassment, her face now completely red and her voice barely above a whisper.

What Shiemi didn't expect after that was Izumo scanning the hallway for anyone who might be watching them then taking her hands in hers and looking back into her eyes determinedly.

"What can I do?" She asked seriously.

The least to be said was that Shiemi was shocked. It was so uncharacteristic of Izumo to offer her help on such a 'futile' situation as she'd usually call it. The blonde was left staring wide eyed into her friend's own wine colored orbs.

"C'mon, I don't have all day!" Izumo scolded, frowning a bit and obviously frustrated not to get to know more about 'the plan' she thought Shiemi had.

A small smile appeared on Shiemi's lips. That was the Izumo she knew. She remembered Renzo's note the other day *…_you should ask Izumo-chan! Apparently she likes shojo mangas!*_ Maybe that was why she was so intent on helping Shiemi with her love life… Another thought occurred to her. How was she going to talk to Rin? She didn't have any plan!

"I…" She started timidly. She couldn't say she didn't know, Izumo would probably go away.

The silence that soon engulfed them told Izumo the truth though. The dark haired girl cursed under her breath. Shiemi didn't have a plan but that wasn't going to stop them! This was her first chance to help someone confess (since she would never let her best friend Paku date any stupid guy), and as shojo addict as she was, she wasn't going to let it pass so easily. So she thought and thought until she finally came to a conclusion.

"Look, you have two possibilities: either you try talking to him during P.E. if the teacher doesn't have us running until we die, that is…" She cringed at the thought. "…Or we trap Rin after class so you can confess."

Shiemi stared curiously at her. "…Trap?"

Izumo sighed. _'Geez…Why do I always have to explain everything…'_ She then leaned closer to the blonde and whispered "Here's the plan…"

* * *

**A.N/:** _YES, I had to end it there, otherwise this chapter would have been way too long (trust me)_

_As always let me know what you thought wether you liked this or not and stay tuned for the next chapter! Reviews always make my day.^^_

_Next chapter will have more Rin/Shiemi action (*insert suspense music track here*) and the plan will more or less start!_

_See you guys next time!~_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Everything was going according to plan. P.E. had been a lost cause since they were forced to run to 'test their endurance in case of emergencies' as Izumo had expected.

Their 'trap' was rather simple: since Shiemi wasn't able to talk to Rin during breaks or P.E. because of his non-stop studying, she would have to do it in the short thirty minutes she had left after class. But the thing was, Rin would never talk to her directly if she managed to actually ask him. So Izumo had passed him a note when she gave back their demonology test -to which he had scored nothing less than an 80/100- at the teacher's demand. From what the dark haired girl had told Shiemi, Rin would come around the fountain at the center of the academy's high school after class so that she only had to wait for him there.

That was precisely what Shiemi was doing. She kept playing with her fingers and arranging her hair but nothing could lessen her apprehension. Maybe he would guess this was a trap and wouldn't come? Maybe he wouldn't even want to hear what she had to say? She had to keep her resolve strong, no matter what the eventualities could be. She kept waiting behind the fountain as not to be spotted immediately.

Rin walked tiredly to the place Izumo had indicated. He reread the note in his hand without paying much attention to where his feet carried him without caring. He knew he wasn't about to get lost.

_*Go to the big fountain in the high school. I have something important to tell you. And don't make me wait! -Izumo.*_

He sighed, folding and putting the small piece of paper back in his pocket. He avoided coming by the fountain whenever he could because it somehow made him remember the time he spent with Shiemi. He didn't want to think back to these happy memories and be reminded of how miserable he was without her now.

Sure, Yukio was overjoyed about his improving grades. Actually, he had never seen his younger twin prouder of him than when he spotted him studying at his desk after school instead of stealing his mangas. Rin sighed again. Maybe that made Yukio happy but it wasn't his case… It just got his mind off things a little.

God, how he missed Shiemi… Whenever he stopped studying his thoughts drifted back to her. He didn't know why but whenever they talked about plants in biology or in pharmacology for Cram school, it reminded him of Shiemi among the blooming flowers of her garden. Worse, the color green alone made him think of her beautiful emerald eyes. These gorgeous pools of green where he so often lost himself…

Rin shook his head back and forth. _'Can't I have a break!?'_ he thought desperately, clenching his teeth and fists. _'I don't have time for this, whatever Izumo has to say, it better be quick. I have to go back and study before I completely lose it…' _

He let out a bitter laugh. He had never been eager to study in his whole life. So of course this change in his personality was quite a shock. "Geez, what happened to me…"

A voice at the back of his mind replied _'Shiemi happened.'_ And he knew it was right. Rin let out a frustrated growl before looking up. He hadn't noticed it but there stood the tall fountain in front of him. He didn't leave his tortured mind enough time to bring back the memories of Shiemi as he called out:

"Izumo? You're there?" He walked closer to the stone edifice. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. _'A prank?' _he mused. No, Izumo would tear his head off for ever thinking she could do something as childish as that.

"Well, obviously she's not here…" Rin muttered grumpily. Seriously, making him come for nothing? He had better things to do than being assaulted by his thoughts all the way here and back to his dorm.

As he was about to turn around and leave a small crystalline voice stopped him. "Wait!"

He knew that voice all too well, even though he had done his best to avoid it all week. He didn't turn around but tried to peek behind him with the corner of his eye. There stood Shiemi in her flowery dark pink kimono, with pleading emerald eyes and hands joined like in prayer in front of her heart.

Rin remained still for a while as no one spoke a word. _'What does she want? What have I done wrong again? She made it loud and clear last time that she didn't want to see me anymore…'_ His anguish thoughts flooded his mind once more. _'Now what, she's gonna ask me to come back? No, I won't let her. She's done enough to me… But…No!'_

"What now?" He spat between clenched teeth.

His voice was icy cold and shocked Shiemi who was used to Rin's joyful tone whenever he talked to her. She summoned up her courage and told him seriously:

"I need to talk to you."

'_What? What do you want!? You're gonna crush me again!? I don't want to feel like this! I don't want to be like this anymore! …Please…'_ This inner battle was driving him insane. He wanted to shout at her, tell her to get away from him before she did more damage to his bleeding heart. His defense mechanism had more or less worked during the past days and he didn't want it to break just with a couple of words.

But at the same time he knew he missed her deeply, that her warmth would mend his heart. They said time would make it all better but Rin never was a really patient guy. This was slowly driving him insane and by the time anyone noticed how bad his condition was, it would already be too late and time wouldn't be able to change anything.

If he took one more blow he would be over, he knew it. So he didn't let her end the overwhelming silence and did the only thing that he thought would save him.

"You don't think you've done enough!?" He hollered, trying not to let too much of his pain show through. "You didn't want me near you anymore, so why are you here!? Leave me alone! I'm better off without you!"

Shiemi remained silent. _'What happened to him? This is not the Rin I know.' _She thought frowning sadly.

"Go away Shiemi! I don't wanna see you!" Rin continued shouting, his back still facing her.

She saw the trembling fists at his sides, the pointed end of his clenched teeth and deep frown behind his bangs… She swallowed nervously. How much pain had he been through because of these misunderstood words? _'I made him like that?…' _She thought, still silent.

"What are you still doing here!?" He growled. "Fine, you're not gonna leave? I'm off then…"

He was about to retreat but Shiemi didn't let him. She made to grab his wrist but he shook it free violently. She spoke nonetheless.

"Rin, I'm sorry! You…"

"'You're sorry'? So what!? You think that's gonna change anything!?" He yelled, turning to her this time. His eyes were so dark and he looked really hurt. "You're bored with Renzo so you come back to me!? Well, that's not gonna work!"

This wasn't true, she didn't think of him so lowly. How could he even believe that? She had to clarify things now.

"Rin, please…" Her voice sounded weak as she held back her tears.

"No, the damage's already been done…" He trailed off, directing his gaze to the ground.

He was leaving. Rin was walking away and she wasn't able to tell him anything. She couldn't let that happen, Shiemi had to do something. But what? She knew him well enough to tell he said all these horrible things because he was really hurt all this time, but how could she make him understand how she truly felt when he wouldn't let her say a word!

Then it ticked. Shiemi's eyes widened for a split second as she realized what she had to do. Rin was too upset and stubborn to listen to her, so her only alternative was…

She ran to him quickly before he passed through the gate that led out of the high school. Rin heard her coming nearer but only hastened his pace. He would ignore her even if she followed him all the way back to his dorm. That was the last thing he could do, take the beating and wait until it was over. He hated this feeling of helplessness more than anything but he was entirely drained after all he had said. He didn't have any defense system to protect himself anymore, this mad rant of his had signed his death warrant. He had hurt himself in the process because, all he wanted in the end was to be with Shiemi, not make her go away…He couldn't take any of that back now, only brace himself before she answered him.

Shiemi finally reached him and Rin couldn't have been prepared for what hit him. She collided with his back and encircled him with her thin arms in a shy hug. The young demon's eyes widened.

He briskly turned to look at her. His eyes were so full of shock and confusion…Maybe even more pain. Shiemi could only look up at him with tears in the corner of her own eyes, hoping he would understand.

He didn't. Right now his mind was a pure storm of thoughts tangled together. Frustration, sadness and sorrow, confusion, hurt…His heart ached so badly, but his brain wouldn't let him understand why. _'Why is she doing that!?'_ he thought, eyes wide and filled with questions he couldn't answer.

He shook himself free of her embrace with a low and half-hearted "get off" to try and walk away. Shiemi saw in his eyes that he still didn't get it despite all her efforts. Yukio always said he was slow to understand things… She had one last resort but it could either get her point across to him or make him disappear from her life forever. Still, she had to try. She had promised herself that today was her last chance. So in the ever so short moment when he faced her, Shiemi made her last move.

Rin's eyes widened even more as he saw her using the wrist she managed to capture to lean up to his face and press her warm lips against his. It lasted only a couple of seconds but it felt oh so sweet… She poured all her feelings in this kiss. He didn't even have time to realize what was happening and close his eyes before Shiemi pulled away and let go of his hand. She opened her eyes slowly, tears falling from them and gave him a very bitter smile.

"You…You understand now?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rin blinked once, to see if when he opened his eyes she wouldn't be there and he would realize it had all been an illusion. But here she was, crying in front of him. He didn't know what to do. Yell at her? Take her in his arms? Blurt out questions? Kiss her again? Should he hate her now? Should he forgive her, even if he wasn't really mad at her in the first place?

He kept staring at her wide eyed, mouth slightly agape and completely confused, unable to say a word or do so much as reach out his hand to her, even though he wanted to badly. Suddenly the silence was broken as the sound of small rain drops was heard around them. Soon the sky's tears and Shiemi's couldn't be told apart. Rin's silence and thunderstruck expression were slowly becoming unbearable to her, she couldn't tell what he was feeling and it was eating her alive. She let out a small whimper, thinking everything was lost, and ran off in the small rain curtain, her salty tears mingling with heaven's water on her cheeks.

Rin was left standing there, alone under the rain.

"She…She kissed me…" He stuttered, bringing a hand to his still parted lips.

'_Is this real? Shiemi really feels this way about me? My feelings aren't unrequited? …' _He fought off all the other feelings rushing inside him: sadness, confusion, anger. He could only understand if he shut them out. _'But why did she run off like that? Did I…Hurt her?'_ The memory of her running around the high school looking for him the other day flashed through his mind. She had desperately tried to talk to him and he had kept avoiding her, selfishly protecting himself. Then now, when she had finally managed to face him, he had yelled at her mercilessly.

'_I…Didn't mean all that…'_ Rin massaged his forehead as he felt a head ache coming. _'I have to go apologize.'_ He knew that for sure but… He was still very confused. She had kissed him. That alone was really troubling him, but did she do it because she lov…_Liked_ him or…?

Rin shook his head back and forth for the umpteenth time that day. That was way too confusing, he knew he couldn't sort this alone. _'I need to go find answers. Right now.'_

* * *

Izumo watched as Rin seemed to be thinking a lot –something quite unusual for him- before finally making up his mind and going the same way as Shiemi had. She stayed hidden behind a large bush until he was gone. She had found the perfect hiding spot: under a tree so that she was protected from the rain, and close enough to hear everything that was said, even though Rin had been so loud, she could have heard him a mile away.

She stood up, her eyes still wide open in shock at what had happened before her just a few minutes ago. When Shiemi had told her she wanted to confess her feelings, Izumo had never believed the shy girl would go as far as to kiss the guy to make him get it. A dark blush spread across her cheeks as the scene replayed in her mind. This was way worse than when she read a shojo manga for the simple reason that this was _real_.

Izumo tried to shake off these thoughts but it was to no avail, she couldn't get rid of the pictures flashing in her head. She sighed, still blushing deeply as she got out her umbrella:

"Well, mission complete…I guess…"

* * *

**A.N/:** _Another chapter done! Man... I'm sorry I don't update as fast as before but I used to have more time during summer vacation.^^"_

_I'll be in vacation again in two weeks though, so maybe I'll be able to write new stories faster then! Actually, I have a little sasusaku oneshot up my sleeve if anyone's interested, I could maybe post it earlier than planned..._

_Anyway, back to this story, the end is drawing nearer as you can probably imagine.^^_

_In the next chapter, Rin will go settle things with Shiemi once and for all (*insert dramatic music there*)_

_'Till then, tell me what you thought about this chapter! I know Rin's thoughts really were a sad thing to read (emo Rin?) but it was done on purpose. Actually, I was listening to "Sadness and Sorrow" from Naruto while writing this chapter!_

_Oh and, sorry if there are grammar mistakes in this chapter. I was quite in a hurry to post it...(my bad)._

_Don't forget I read all the reviews with a big grin on my face.^^_

_Thank you all for reading, stay tuned for the next chapter!_


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N/:** _I'm soooooooooo sorry for the long wait!._

_Anyway, I'm not going to keep you so just go ahead and read (and enjoy)!_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Rin hadn't bothered taking an umbrella in his bag this morning and now he suffered the consequences: He was completely drenched in freezing cold water, running under the heavy autumn rain. He didn't have the key for the Exorcism shop like Yukio did. Exwires couldn't have it, though he was pretty sure Shiemi possessed one since she lived there. That would explain why he hadn't bumped into her on his way to her house.

Rin didn't care in the least about the rain right now. He had to go find answers, that was his only goal. He was a bit less confused than before but still needed to talk to Shiemi. She did kiss him after all…

Hope wasn't lost, if she returned his feelings then he could be by her side again! The corners of his mouth turned upwards at the thought, rain drops drawing the line of his lips and running down his chin. Then he remembered how broken she looked when he didn't say anything back to her after her short kiss. A spark of determination flickered in his cobalt blue eyes again. _'We have to fix all this once and for all.'_ He thought, speeding up through the curtain of gray rain.

The Moriyama's shop soon came into view. Rin lifted up his gaze to admire the ancient Asian styled house, still running right ahead of him on the long bridge that linked the shop to the rest of the academy.

He finally stopped running when he reached the entrance of the exorcism shop after climbing up the slippery stone steps leading to the door. He caught his breath in a few minutes as he was protected from the rain by the porch. His heart starting beating madly in his chest when he looked up and faced the imposing wooden door in front of him. _'Ok, deep breaths…Calm down…Oh, who am I kidding? What am I gonna do!?'_ He started panicking, shaking his head back and forth and throwing away a few drops of water from his hair. He slowly raised his trembling hand to the door. _'Knock.'_ He ordered himself. _'Come on, just knock already!' _

And so he did, scolding himself right afterwards for being so stupid as he waited for someone to answer. First there was silence but then a small voice behind the door called out a feeble "It's open".

Rin recognized Shiemi's shaky voice. _'She's been crying all this time?' _he wondered silently before reaching for the door handle to come in. The door creaked a bit as he closed it behind him, facing away from the counter of the shop were Shiemi was probably seated. When he turned around he briefly saw her puffy wide red eyes before she turned away to hide her face. He figured his theory had been correct since she briskly wiped away the few stray tears left on her cheeks. Rin settled his gaze on her.

"Shiemi…" The words came and went out of his mind and he couldn't decide on which ones to pick.

"What are you doing here…?" She inquired in a small shy voice, still looking away from him. She had tried to sound mad but had obviously failed.

"I… I came to get things straight." Rin said a little bashfully. He inspected her carefully, especially her eyes. They were usually so full of life…Now she looked blue and heartbroken. _'Apparently I wasn't the only one suffering all this time…' _Rin summoned up his courage and for once swallowed his pride as he lowered his head and let his bangs hide his slightly pinkish cheeks."Shiemi…I'm sorry."

She lifted up her eyes in surprise, searching his own but unable to find them. Rin continued before silence could settle between them.

"I'm sorry for all these terrible things I said…I really didn't mean any of it…" He shut his eyes tightly then reopened them slowly and added bitterly "But, you probably won't buy that…"

This time silence would have engulfed them completely hadn't it been for the hard rain pounding loudly on the roof. Rin was lost in thoughts, knowing he couldn't really do anything besides wait for her to shoe him out of her house in the beating cold rain. He knew it was a lost cause, that she would never return his feelings. What could a demon like him possibly expect? Rin closed his eyes again, suppressing a sigh as he listened closely to the sound of the rain. He hoped it would somehow ease the searing pain in his chest… He knew she couldn't possibly like, or even less love him but…He just had to let her know.

When Rin reopened his eyes he noticed Shiemi standing up and walking to the other side of the counter, in front of him. She was still looking down, biting her lip and holding tightly onto the long sleeves of her kimono. She eventually looked at him when he took a deep breath to gather all his courage.

"I love you."

Her eyes widened as Rin shyly ruffled his bangs and averted his gaze. He gave her a small honest smile. _'This is where it ends…But somehow, I feel lighter.'_ He thought, staring at Shiemi's utterly bewildered expression. Now that this was off his chest, it felt as if a weight had been lifted. However, he knew what was left to do as he caught her eyes one last time before turning around to walk towards the door.

Suddenly Shiemi realized what he was about to do and reached out a hand. "Wait!"

He stiffened for a second then slowly turned to her with confusion written all over his face.

Shiemi gulped and put her hand on her heart. "I…" She started.

Rin was boiling, struggling to keep his heart from jumping out of his chest and fighting with his thoughts. He kept repeating _'Don't get your hopes up. Don't get your hopes up. Don't get your hopes up…'_ over and over in his mind. Finally she spoke and Rin told his brain to shut up, holding his breath.

"I…I don't understand!"

Rin blinked twice as a voice at the back of his mind mocked him _'I told you not to get your hopes up!'_

"Why?" Shiemi went on, trying to find some confidence by clenching her fist on her heart.

It was Rin's turn to give her a wide eyed stare. Shiemi finally found her courage and blurted out:

"Why do you love me!?"

"Wha…?" Rin was completely puzzled now. "What do you mean why?"

"Yeah! You're strong and confident…You're courageous too, and you can do anything you set your mind on! I'm so weak…Why would you fall for someone like me?" She shouted as if he was crazy to feel this way about her.

He blinked again in confusion. He couldn't answer that, honestly he had no idea about his feelings just a few weeks ago. Why he loved her? There was just something about her…As she kept staring, almost glaring at him he figured he needed to find an answer quickly.

"Well err…" This wasn't going to be the most romantic speech ever, but maybe it was worth a try. "I…You know you always do this thing with your hair?" She tilted her head, not understanding his point. "When you fix your fringe, you know? Well I like that and…"

Judging by the look on her face she was either really confused or not convinced at all, maybe both. Rin felt a sweat drop running down his forehead. _'Come on, you can do better!'_ he encouraged himself.

"When you take care of your garden you always have that special smile on your face, like you were the happiest girl on earth. I'm almost jealous of your plants…" He blushed a deeper shade of red and tried to shake it off before continuing in a louder voice, obviously more embarrassed with every word. "And every morning when you greet me! You know, I miss it now but I really liked it when you beamed at me like that…"

Shiemi's cheeks were slowly turning pink as Rin continued his speech more fervently, almost scolding her. "I don't think you're weak! You're the one to give me courage every time I'm in a bind so don't say that! You're much stronger than you think!" He made eye contact to persuade her before calming down slightly. "And you…I don't know how you do it but… You always manage to soothe me when I'm angry or sad… What's your secret?" He asked with a light chuckle. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I have many more reasons…These are just a few…" His mind was screaming at him for this lame bluff since he already had had a hard time formulating all these arguments. They were all truth though.

Shiemi just kept staring a few more seconds before she lowered her head slowly, seemingly deep in thoughts. Rin's eyebrows furrowed slightly _'Did I say something wrong?'_ he wondered, clueless. The annoying voice at the back of his mind couldn't help but answer: _'No, you're just that bad at cheesy lovey-duvey stuff'_. The half demon kept in a sigh as he realized how true that statement was.

Shiemi couldn't help but be shocked at the sincerity his words held. It wasn't the most poetic declaration of love there ever was but to her it was more than enough. She had never even imagined Rin-or any boy for that matter- would ever say such words to her one day, and as she repeated them over and over in her mind she felt her heart beat faster, fluttering in her chest.

"Rin!" His name spilled out from her lips before she could even formulate the thought of what she was going to do.

The teen jumped slightly as she broke the silence so abruptly. His blue orbs a little wide as he stared back into Shiemi's green ones. Her cheeks were a dark pink as she suddenly shut her eyes tightly.

"You…You are such a nice person Rin…"

Rin's mind was ranting again _'It's gonna be over in less than 2 seconds! You're gonna be in the Friend-zone again pal! You shouldn't have gotten your hopes so high! Yukio's right, you're a true idiot!'_ and so on. He wanted nothing more than to make his brain shut up but his feelings got tangled with his thoughts and it was way too hard to sort them out right now. He just kept the same mildly surprised expression as he waited for Shiemi's next words, unable to move even his little finger, unable to breathe.

"You're like my model, I've always admired you since the day we met. Sometimes I wish I could be like you…You give me my courage too…" The corners of her lips slightly turned upwards as she walked slightly closer to him, so that no more than a meter separated the two.

"…Before, I would never have been able to tell you all that, and even less…"

Shiemi took his hand. Rin's eyes fell on her fingers interlacing with his then trailed up the length of her arm and finally met her eyes again. Her rosy lips parted again…

"…Now I can tell you, I love you."

If Rin's eyes were a bit wide before, they were just like saucers now that Shiemi had finally managed to confess. The same went for Shiemi's cheeks as they took a deep crimson tint. Rin's mind was now silent, as if the annoying voice was completely flabbergasted and speechless. He would have shot it a _'serves you right'_ hadn't he been in the same state right then.

"Rin…You're not saying anything…" Shiemi started, a bit scared of whatever was going on in the teen's troubled mind.

Rin seemed to get out of his reverie at the sound of her voice. He shook his head and blinked twice. Still unsure, he pinched his forearm and let out a pained _'ouch!'_

Shiemi was utterly confused by his behavior. "Rin?"

'_I'm definitely not dreaming…'_ Rin thought as he rubbed the painful tingling spot on his arm. Though he couldn't help but ask: "Is this really real?"

Shiemi was still a bit embarrassed and dumfounded but nodded. Rin stared at her a few seconds more.

"You mean, really REALLY real?" He still wouldn't believe it.

Shiemi giggled at his disbelieving expression. She was usually the clueless and shyest one out of them two, but it seemed today was her turn to clarify things. She stepped closer to a still wide-eyed Rin and rested her forearms on his chest shyly. This was all new to her too after all… She felt him shiver slightly at her touch under his clingy wet shirt before looking up into his eyes.

Rin quickly got the message and blushed crimson red as he saw her leaning up even closer to his face. _'This is way too good to be real…' _was the only thought that crossed his mind as he bent his head down slightly to meet her lips in a rainy - but warm - kiss. They both closed their eyes as their minds became entirely blank. Rin's arms soon encircled Shiemi's waist and lightly pulled her closer. The lack of experience made them breathless quickly, but every time they parted for a short second they quickly leaned in and kissed again, wanting more of this so sweet yet still so new and unknown feeling that took over their minds.

Eventually, they had to break apart. Shiemi rested her head on Rin's chest and he embraced her gently. Their hearts were almost as wild and loud as their now running minds.

Rin's went like this: _'Oh my God, either I'm dead or I'm dreaming. There's no other explanation. But I'm too young and too handsome to die! Then it's probably a dream. But this felt…So great…Shoot! What if I'm a crappy kisser? Hell no! Anyways, too bad ladies, but Rin Okumura is no longer single! Or in the dream world at least…'_

Shiemi's was more like: _'I just kissed Rin… I just kissed Rin… I just kissed Rin… Oh my Gosh, I just kissed Rin and it was my first real kiss!'_

Rin couldn't make the smirk on his face disappear as Shiemi buried her head in his chest in embarrassment. _'I could get used to that…'_ he thought. However the young girl soon realized something that should have been totally obvious to her from the moment he walked into the shop.

"Rin, you're soaking wet!" She exclaimed, pulling out of his embrace to take a better look at him now that she had realized this fact. _'How could I miss that?'_ She incredulously asked herself.

Rin looked over at himself, still unable to help smirking. "Yep, I am."

"You must be so cold!" Shiemi pointed out, inspecting him as well. Drops of water dripped from his dark bangs and onto his face, running down his cheeks like tears, though the fact that he was smirking made it quite obvious that he was rather happy and proud of himself. His clothes were completely drenched as well, his white shirt clinging to his body and making his abs show through a bit.

"Come on, I'll give you some tea to warm you up!" Shiemi gestured for him to follow her into the Moriyama's house and to the living room before he could notice the bright blush spreading over her cheeks. "You can stay in front of the heater too, it'll dry up your clothes a little. I'm sorry there are no men's clothes here…"

"It's okay." Rin simply replied as he sat down on a cushion near the coffee table.

"No, I mean…You'll catch a cold or some bad flue! I don't want…" Shiemi worked herself up, gazing at him with worry in her eyes.

"Shiemi," The smirk on his face widened a bit more. "I'm already quite warm…Thanks to you."

Shiemi blushed a dark red at this comment and Rin let out a hearty laugh. It had been so long since the last time he laughed like that… Soon Shiemi joined him and they were together, laughing like idiots in the Moriyama's living room. After a while when they stopped laughing, Rin followed Shiemi's advice and positioned himself in front of the radiator, taking his uniform jacket and his tie off. His new girlfriend gave him a small amused smile as she rested her head on his shoulder to "warm him up a bit more". Rin chuckled at that, it seemed she wasn't so shy around him anymore. He had been right, now it was all over…Only, in a happier way than he had thought.

* * *

**A.N/:** _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I think I made Rin somehow too calm here..._

_Anyway, I'm going to make you suffer a bit more since IT ISN'T THE LAST!_

_I'll try to post it soon but know that I haven't even started it yet...-"_

_Thanks a lot to all of you who reads/favorited/reviewed/follows this story again! Remember I read all your reviews!^^_

_Those who hated Renzo for what he's done to Rin & Shiemi will probably lik the next chapter..._


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